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64
will not have to travel so far and I am sure the attendance
figure will increase considerably from this area.
Equipment All surgeries in the borough have Dental Units and Roy
Units and high speed compressed air turbine drills. Some of the
Dental Units are now becoming aged and although still serviceable
they will be replaced on a yearly progressive
programme.
Dental With the increase in population and with the same number
Inspections of Dental Officers it has been impossible to inspect the same
percentage as in the previous year. Even so 18,047 inspections
were carried out during 1965. The school dental inspection is
a very important part of the service as it is the only way that
the parents' attention is drawn to the fact that treatment is
necessary. With a high general Dental Service in this area the
largest percentage of parents take their children to their private
practitioner following a school inspection.
Conservative The saving of teeth continued to be the main aim of the
Treatment service. Each year more children are having teeth saved
instead of having extractions. This can be seen from the
statistics showing the increased number of fillings and the
smaller number of extractions per patient. More children are
receiving dental treatment at a much earlier age. It is unusual
to see five year olds who have not had some dental treatment.
This was not so a few years ago.
General These continued to be mainly administered by Medical
Anaesthetics Officers; the same anaesthetist and dental surgeon working
together as far as possible. This is important because extractions
under general anaesthesia in a dental chair calls for
team work which greatly adds to the safety factor.
Halothane which is now in use in all surgeries as an
added anaesthetic has proved to be very effective and safer
because of the increase in oxygen during the anaesthetic.
Orthodontics These have been carried out by the dental officers
interested and capable of dealing with this rather specialised
part of dentistry. In a few difficult cases the patient has been
referred to a hospital consultant for treatment or advice on the
form of treatment to be carried out.
Dental Health The senior dental officer arranged the showing of films,
Education posters and leaflets in schools and clinics. The main aim of
the films is to show the importance of oral hygiene and regular