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is, since the year in which the present type of statistical return
was adopted. It is only by considering data for a series of years
that any true appreciation can be obtained of the amount and
type of work which is being done in an area. Similarly, it is only
by such methods that the observer is able to appreciate the gradual
change in the incidence of certain conditions.
Tables XIX and XX set out certain data which are
essential for an appreciation of the incidence of dental conditions
in the children of the area.
These two tables show the progress which has been made
in the extension of the service. From 1920 to 1927 inclusive,
inspection of school children was confined to those at the ages of
6, 7, and 8 years respectively. After the latter date children at
other ages came to be examined more frequently. Although in
1937 the numbers examined in these other age groups were
considerable, 11,909—or 65.6 per cent—of the 18,182 children
who were examined at routine inspection fell within the age group
6—8 years. A complete dental service should provide equal
facilities for examination of children in all age groups, and it is
hoped that some progress in this direction will be made at an
early date. The figures in the last column of Table XIX show
a progressive increase. The high ratios in the last few years are
probably due to two factors—an actual increase of the inspection
work carried out by the school dentists, and a fall in the school
population.
Table XX brings out the fact that there has been an
increase in the proportion of children inspected who required treatment.
The figures for West Ham do not differ very markedly
from those for other areas, and the increase is probably due to a
change in the conception of the type of lesion which is suitable
for treatment. The seventh column of this table, in that it shows
the degree to which parents are responding to the offer of treatment
for those children who have been shown to require it, has
points of interest. This figure is fairly constant for the country
generally, and the ratios for West Ham are somewhat above those
for other similar areas. In an ideal dental service, the full cooperation
of hypothetical ideal parents would raise the figures in
this column to approximately 100 per cent., but it will probably
be long before even an approach to this high figure is attained.
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