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The age groups inspected were from five years to twelve
years inclusive, which totalled 11,481: those referred for treatment
number 6,970, and the "specials," cases referred by the
School Medical Officer, and Head Teachers, were 283. The number
of attendances at the dental clinics was 7,426.
Details will be found in the following statistics:—
Table IV. Group V. Dental Defects.
All the children in the routine age groups are inspected once
a year, and treatment offered where necessary.
Great stress is laid on the conservation of teeth, especially
the first or six-year molars. The temporary teeth are filled when
the cavities are small. The number of permanent teeth filled was
1887.
The extraction of temporary teeth is chiefly done under local
anaesthesia, but gas is used for most permanent teeth, and in
cases of sepsis, etc., and is the better anaesthetic for nervous
children. The number of administrations of gas was 755.
A great number of permanent teeth were extracted for regulation
purposes, that is, in mouths where the teeth are overcrowded,
making the front teeth irregular and ugly, certain teeth
were extracted to allow the others to fall back into their normal
arch. In other cases where teeth would not fall naturally into
their places, regulation plates were made to bring the teeth into
line. The number of regulation plates I made was 40.
The sepsis from bad teeth definitely undermines the health of
the school child, and hinders normal progess at school. At one
school I inspected the teeth of 20 bright boys and teeth of 20 dull
boys of the same age, and found that the average number of
decayed teeth per head of the former was 1.7 and in the latter was
2.85, figures which speak for themselves.
The School Dental Service is incomplete when the 13 year,
14 year and subsequently the 15 year age groups are left uninspected
and untreated. This means that the children leaving school
are not dentally fit and a great deal of the good work done up to
12 years is undone by lack of treatment later. It is very urgent
for the health and ultimate well-being of the children of East
Ham, that another School Dentist be appointed.