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Report of Principal School Dental Officer for the year 1972
As this is possibly the last Annual Report that will be
formally received by the Council before the officers
transfer to the new Health Authority some review of the
achievement of the dental service during the last half
century seems appropriate.
George F. Buchan was appointed M.O.H. for what was
then the Urban District of Heston and Isleworth in April
1909. He was the first of a succession of Medical Officers,
who to this day, have shown a more than average interest
in the dental health of school children.
Dr. Buchan reported in his first report that out of 1000
children examined only eleven had received ANY dental
treatment at any time during their life.
This was not because the children were free from
dental disease. At the beginning of World War I, 71.6% of
the school children were reported to have decayed teeth.
Medical Officers at this time examined 1,764 children,
and, in spite of the number of children suffering from
decayed teeth, found that only 95 had had some teeth
extracted and only seven had had any teeth filled.
The first school dental officer (a Mr. Fitche) was
appointed on a part-time basis in 1918. He was obviously
faced with a formidable task and reported that 85% of the
children he examined needed dental treatment.
He was succeeded by Mr. I. Cohen, a man who was to
make an outstanding contribution to the development of
the dental service.
In 1920 Nitrous-Oxide anaesthesia was introduced for
extractions, and the number of children accepting
treatment rose.
In 1930, Mr. Cohen successfully introduced a
comprehensive orthodontic service, the first Local
Authority orthodontic service in the country.
The first X-ray apparatus in a school dental service clinic
was installed in 1937 and the original machine still gives
reliable and excellent service today, although all clinics in
the Borough now have their own equipment.
After World War 2 the dental service suffered from a loss
of staff, when the introduction of the 1948 National Health
Service resulted in a serious discrepancy between earnings
possible in practice and Local Authority Service.
The service has never completely recovered from this
serious set back, although in recent years there has been
some welcome improvement.
During 1972 dental officers inspected 16,225 children,
and this was a decrease on the previous year when 20,341
were inspected. In spite of this and some staffing
difficulties during the year, more children attended for
treatment than the previous year, the number of
attendances for treatment being 28,151 compared with
27,196 in 1971. These figures only refer to certain classes
of treatment required in official Department of Education
and Science returns and the actual number of attendances
at the clinics for items not recorded as treatment, for
example, advice, resulted in far more attendances than
official returns would suggest.
It will be noted that there was a further increase in the
number of children attending the clinics for emergency
care and this trend had been referred to in previous reports.
There has also been an impression that a greater
proportion of the children in Housnlow schools seek dental
treatment at one of the Borough Dental Clinics but this
cannot be stated with certainty without a special survey.
This view is supported by an increased rate of acceptance
of treatment, as at one school where in 1967 50%
accepted treatment compared with 80% in 1972.
Broken Appointments
In spite of the greater number of children treated there has
been a small, but welcome, reduction in the number of
failed appointments; 6,250 in 1972 compared with 7,394
the previous year.
The Future
The demands on the Local Authority Dental Service
continues to grow in spite of a substantial contribution by
General Practitioners who provide, in their individual
practice, a very high standard of dental care for children.
If progress is to be maintained considerably more
resources both financial, and manpower, must be devoted
to the provision of dental care for school children.
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