View report page

27
''There will always, I suppose, be a small proportion of parents
who, for various reasons, will prefer to have their children treated
elsewhere, but there are still many who, refusing treatment under
the Authority's Scheme, do not and often cannot get it elsewhere,
and it is to this class that one hopes to extend the benefits of dental
treatment, which, open to those in better financial circumstances,
are only available to them through the Public Dental Service.
"The need for appliances for correcting irregulation of the
teeth and jaws is a great necessity in a complete dental scheme.
''Among the 7 to 8 thousand children examined during the past
year, the most noticeable defect, apart from the ever-present dental
caries, has been the large numbers of narrow, contracted arches
with their attendant evils of non-articulating molars with protruding
and ugly incisors. The fact must be faced that many children of
the present day have such small jaws, too small to contain the
requisite number of teeth in their correct portions.
"The cause of this condition, such as thumb-sucking, the use
of the dummy, food that needs little or no mastication, adenoids,
etc., lies outside the control of the Dental Surgeon, but much
needs to be done to counteract the effect of these conditions.
"Many of the cases can be remedied by judicious extractions,
but undoubtedly, quite a large number require, in addition, some
kind of appliance. This has not up to the present been supplied,
suitable cases having been referred to a dental hospital, and I have
no hesitation in stating that this system appears to have been of
little avail, and that it is desirable for the Authority to supply
necessary appliances. My reasons are, briefly, as follows:—
"(1) Although the majority of parents express their willingness
and ability to pay the cost of the appliance, they cannot afford the
time or money to attend the hospitals (which are at a distance),
weekly or fortnightly, over a long period.
"(2) The hospitals all have long waiting lists, and a wait of
nearly a year before commencing treatment is not unusual.
"(3) The undertaking of this work need involve no additional
expense to the Authority in view of the readiness of those parents
desiring treatment for their children to pay the few shillings that
represent the cost of the appliance.
"(4) It would not involve the neglect of any part of the work
done hitherto, as the necessary adjustments would require but a
few minutes weekly.