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167
All the children in the routine age groups are inspected once
a year, and treatment is offered where necessary. During the
inspection the opportunity occurs to speak to the children
individually about the benefit of dental cleanliness and other
matters incidental to any particular case.
Work in the clinic is carried out as painlessly as possible—a
local or regional injection of a suitable anæsthetic is commonly
given prior to the extraction of temporary teeth, or in cases where
this is contra-indicated a local application of ethyl-chloride is used.
One session per week is devoted to the administration of Nitrous
Oxide Gas for the extraction of septic or difficult permanent teeth.
Small cavities in temporary teeth, and all cavities in savable
permanent teeth are filled, special attention being given to the first
or six-year molars.
It is certainly interesting and important to record that, whereas
four or five years ago it used to be a very common thing for
children to come to the clinic with extremely septic teeth, often
complicated by abscess formation and accompanied bv severe oral
sepsis due to neglect—which affected their general health and
vitality—now it is unusual to find such conditions. Parents are
gradually realising the importance of dental hygiene and treatment,
with the ultimate benefit of improved health for their children.
Ignorance and the " what-was-good-enough-for-me-is-goodenough-for-them
" attitude of the parents is very difficult to overcome,
no amount of talking or distribution of literature is of much
avail and only personal experience seems to bring about the desired
results.
In 1930 and 1931 a Dental Clinic has been held at Woolwich
for the treatment of the children at Silvertown and Storey Street
Schools, because of the difficulty of parents finding the time, and
money for fares, to attend at Durban House. When dental
inspection is completed at the Schools, and the requisite notices
sent out, a clinic is held for one session per week until the treatment
for the area is completed.
In spite of the handicap of unsuitable surroundings for
operative work, the following table shows the percentage increase
in the number of children treated compared with that for t-he year
1929.