View report page

134
The aim of the Dental Clinic is to reduce all pain to the utmost
minimum in order that the little patients will attend without that
horrible fear of the dentist, which is so prevalent. This is carried
out by giving injections for the extraction of temporary and permanent
teeth, except in cases of abscesses or oral sepsis, when a
general anaesthetic is administered (viz., nitrous-oxide) or a local
application of ethyl-chloride is used. Great care is taken with
conservative work, all permanent teeth being filled where possible
and small cavities in temporary teeth. The preservation of the
permanent teeth is of the utmost importance to the child,
especially that of the first or six-year molar. It is gratifying to
note that during the year there has been a substantial increase
in the number of permanent teeth filled and a corresponding
decrease in the number of permanent teeth extracted.
The age groups to be inspected during the year 1930 will be
those of 5 years to 11 years inclusive.
It is with much pleasure that I have to record the appointment
of Mr. A. E. Hall as School Dentist in March, 1929. The result
of his work is very gratifying and his assistance has been invaluable.
Progress in the School Dental Service of East Ham is being
made, but very slowly. When the recommendations of the Board
of Education are adopted, namely the appointment of two more
Dental Surgeons, and permanent headquarters with branch clinics
are built, a comprehensive progressive scheme can be adopted to
deal with all dental defects of school children. The importance of
this is shown by the following extract from the Report of the Chief
Medical Officer to the Board of Education for the year 1928 :
" These medical reports to the Board have, for 20 years, emphasised
the gravity and far-reaching evils of (a) ill-constituted
dentition, (b) premature decay of the teeth, and (c) oral sepsis, and
it is unnecessary to deal with the subject every year. But the
injury to, or impairment of, health exists every year, and it is of
the utmost importance that Local Education Authorities through-.
out the country should give close and continuous attention to the
reduction of all conditions which lead to these three basic defects
in many hundreds of thousands of school children."
The dental nurses play an important part in the work of the
Dental Clinic by interviewing parents, inspiring confidence in