London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
East Ham 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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140
It is of importance that those children leaving school, viz.,
the 14 year age group, should have their mouths in sound condition.
The School Dental Service is not established to extract as
many teeth as possible but to prevent decay and consequent pain:
it other words, it is a preventive service. So many parents ignore
all notices for their children to attend the Clinics for routine treatment,
and these same children come along in turn, often at inconvenient
times, to have aching teeth extracted, upsetting the routine
work in progress.
Maternity and Child Welfare Centres.
Statistical details of the dental work done for the Maternity and Child Welfare Centres are shown in the following table :—
| No. of Sessions devoted to Treatment | No. of Attendances | No. of Permanent Teeth | No. of Temporary Teeth | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | Children | Extracted | Filled | Extracted | Filled | |
| 90 | 278 | 621 | 316 | 66 | 879 | 129 |
| Total No. of Extractions | Total No. of Fillings | No. of Administrations of General Anaesthetics | No. of other Operations | |||
| Permanent Teeth | Temporary Teeth | |||||
| 1195 | 195 | 132 | 82 | 89 | ||
Two sessions per week have been devoted to the children
under five years, and the mothers referred by the Medical Officers
of the Maternity and Child Welfare Centres. Extractions have
been done either by gas or local injection; and necessary fillings
of permanent and temporary teeth. Dentures have been made for
mothers in a few cases.