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cases at half price or free of cost according to means. During
the year twenty-six outfits were supplied at cost price and one
was supplied free.
Dental Scheme.
The general scope of the dental work was carried on as
in previous years, but the number of attendances and the
number of patients treated fell slightly from figures for
previous years. Last year 325 patients made 1,021 attendances
as compared this year with 288 patients making 934 attendances.
The probable reason for the drop is the effect of the
opportunities and demand for labour in factories and elsewhere
during this fourth year of war.
It will be seen from the table on page 32 that though
there was a decrease in the number of extractions, there was
an increase in the conservation work and fourteen more patients
were fitted with dentures than in the previous year.
The number of expectant mothers who attended during
the year was 120. The importance of early dental care in
pregnancy cannot be stressed too much. Great importance is
attached to securing that these mothers shall come under
observation by the Dental Surgeon at the earliest possible
moment, and that immediate priority shall be given to these
cases. In the absence of such a policy ante-natal dental treatment
becomes a farce.
The importance of such arrangements become more obvious
by taking a hypothetical example. An expectant mother goes
to her midwife at about 16-18 weeks to make arrangements
for her confinement. The midwife arranges for her to attend
the ante-natal clinic. The mother makes her first attendance
perhaps at 21 or 22 weeks. She is seen by the ante-natal
officer who refers her for dental treatment possibly only if
her need for dental treatment is obvious to his unspecialised
examination. She, therefore, if she is fortunate, may arrive
for her first inspection by the Dental Surgeon at about 24
weeks. There may be a further delay where the appointment
system is in operation before she really secures any treatment.
She may have, therefore, been already exposed for more than
two-thirds of her period of dental adversity even if she secures
treatment at her first interview with the Dental Surgeon.
It is clear that there are three essentials for an adequate
ante-natal dental scheme—early notification, early inspection
by the Dental Surgeon, and adequate facilities for early
treatment.
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