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83
School Dental Service.
Mr. E. V. Haigh, Senior Dental Officer, reports as follows:—
"Dental treatment was carried out in the Ilford area at five
surgeries; Mayesbrook and Valentines having two each and there being
one surgery at Manford Way.
During 1958 we continued to staff the Clinics by using Part-Time
Dental Officers, each Officer doing a few sessions per week. The use
of these part-time Officers is not ideal owing to lack of continuity of
treatment, but as without their services we should have to close the
surgeries we are grateful to them. It is impossible to obtain full-time
Officers.
At the beginning of the year we had nine part-time Officers but
by the end of the year this number had dropped to six, giving the
equivalent to nearly two full-time Officers. This, together with my own
school dental duties, brings the total service to 2.62 Dental Officers
compared with 3.39 in the previous year. At the present time it is
impossible to obtain more staff due to the fact that private practice is
more financially attractive. As a result of less staff it was made
impossible to inspect or treat so many children.
Emergency treatment on two mornings a week continued during
1958 at Mayesbrook Clinic when any child without an appointment
from any school in Ilford could attend and be seen by myself for the
relief of pain, appointments being made for extractions under general
anaesthesia or for conservative treatment such as fillings.
I continued with one evening session per week for school children,
the time of these sessions being 5.15-8.15 p.m. They have proved to
be most satisfactory and popular, especially for the older secondary
children studying for examinations, who do not wish to attend the
Clinic during school time. 1 have a waiting list for these sessions and
only the patients who cannot possibly attend during the day may be
given an after school appointment.
X-ray facilities have continued to be available at Manford Way
and Mayesbrook Clinic; patients attending Valentines Clinic being sent
to Mayesbrook Clinic if X-rays were required, the films then being
sent back to the Dental Officer after they had been processed. At the
end of 1958 a new X-ray apparatus was ordered for Valentines Clinic
and a dark room fitted up, but this was not in operation until the beginning
of 1959.
Most extractions were performed under general anaesthesia, always
given by a Medic.il Officer. Slightly less sessions were needed for this
purpose in 1958 because there were less school inspections and therefore
not so many children with gross caries referred for extractions.
At the end of 1958 a sub-committee was formed to promote greater
dental health propaganda. As before, this will take the form of films,
lectures and demonstrations in the schools to encourage the children to
take greater care of their teeth and so need less dental treatment."
Full details of the dental work are shown in Table V,