London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Walthamstow 1934

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Walthamstow]

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acceptances, the Juniors following closely, with the Seniors lagging
very much behind. Exception must be taken with respect to the
Central Schools, where the acceptance rate may be regarded
as satisfactory. One of these schools has, in two successive years,
doubled the percentage and still maintains it with a slight
increase. In Senior Schools, Girls' Departments show a higher rate
than Boys'; in Infant Schools, none, excepting the Nursery School,
are as low as some of the Senior Schools. To show the marked differences
in schools, two Senior Schools in same block, Girls 42 per cent.,
Boys, 19 per cent. In three Senior Schools there has been a decrease
in two succeeding years. Two Girls' Schools, 35 per cent. fall to
21 per cent., and 16 per cent. to 14 per cent. Boys' School, 11 per
cent. to 8 per cent., while on the other hand, two Senior Schools
show a rise, Girls 19 per cent. to 40 per cent., Boys 9 per cent. to
19 per cent. The Senior School with the highest rate of acceptance
is St. George's, 71 per cent. The largest acceptance of all is
St. Mary's R.C. Junior Mixed, 75 per cent. Some few schools
have so low an acceptance that the session taken in inspection
might be of more value if devoted to treating those who are anxious
to avail themselves of the services of the Dental Clinic. There
are not many of these schools, but they are fairly constant in
their attitude.
"With regard to the question of failed appointments, it may
be of some interest to review a period of the year's record of the
number of acceptances and compare with them the number of

those who have failed to keep their appointments:—

AcceptancesFailures.
Forest Road Junior Boys9320
„ „ „ Girls10211
Gamuel Road Junior Boys7414
St. Saviour's Infants4812
„ Boys476
Queens Road Infants6411
Wm. McGuffie Boys393
„ Girls813
St. George's R.C. Senior692

"In Central Schools, as in most Senior Schools, the failures are
negligible. The true acceptance rate should be, not the number
of signed forms, but the number who present themselves for
treatment.
"The first permanent molar which erupts at the sixth year is
the best masticating tooth of the dentition. The number of these
teeth lost or unsavable is noticeably high. Taking four schools
and discounting the condition of the rest of the dentition, the
findings are:—
"Forest Road Junior Girls.—221 children found to require
treatment—62 first molars lost or hopelessly decayed.