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46
For example, it is found that in caries discovered by examination
in the age groups 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, there is an increased
9% in the entrants in 1928 over 1927, and 10.7% in the 8-year olds
dropping again to 4.4% in the 10-year olds but a definite all round
increase, which is probably due entirely to stricter inspection
methods whereby pinhole cavities are included as apart from any
definite increase in caries.
At first sight these figures would appear thoroughly unsatisfactory,
in that instead of there being definite decrease in th
amount of caries as a result of dental treatment, there would
appear to be the reverse.
With the greater time available under the whole-time serve
of the Dental Surgeon, more attention can be given to each case
and as I said before, there should, from now onwards, be
a definite base-line on which comparative statistics can be based.
At the same time, dental statistics are made up of so many
variables that unless the matter is dealt with by an expert statistician,
there is always a danger that conclusions may be draw
which have no real foundation in fact.
There is a very definite difficulty in getting the poorer children
from lsleworth to the Dental Clinic on the grounds of distance
and expense, and it is hoped that the institution of a Dental
Clinic at Redlees will make a considerable difference in this
respect.
For the first time arrangements had been made for emergency
cases to be dealt with every day without previous appointment.
The scheme has only been working since 31/10/28, but the
results have been entirely satisfactory. Only 41 cases have been
sent down so far, but of these 39 were genuine cases requiring
treatment.
It is interesting to find that practically a quarter of these case
were children whose dental record from the point of view of
absenteeism and refusals, could only be classed as bad.
The arrangement was that the first half hour of every after
noon session from the 31st October, should be set aside for emergency
cases, and it has been found that a quarter of an hour has
been sufficient to deal with the cases sent in.