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34
Mothers
The demand for treatment by expectant and nursing mothers continued
to decrease slightly. This is due to the fact that most mothers
are being treated by the general dental service. Most are young adults
and more dentally health conscious than ever before and as such these
expectant and nursing mothers are usually under private practitioners'
supervision prior to the Ante-Natal orPost-Natal care and as such prefer
to continue with the dental surgeon of their choice. Another factor is
that a mother may only attend for twelve months after the confinement.
Continuity of treatment is, I am certain, very important and the fact that
they may only attend for a limited period stops many mothers attending
at all.
Many of the mothers that do attend, however, are the ones that do not
attend a dentist regularly and as such they often need a considerable
amount of treatment to make them dentally sound. They also tend to be
more nervous than patients that attend for regular inspections and treatment.
Children
The treatment of small children under the age of five can demand
rather specialised ability of Dental Officers and staff. These children
need mora patience and can be very time consuming. However, by careful
management these children can be most rewarding and I hope that they
will become regular patients and lose the old fears of visiting the dentist
that so often have been given to them by their parents.
By showing their parents the importance of good dental habits and
regular dental treatment, these children will be conscious of the fact
that good teeth are an important part of good health when they are older.
Many of these under five children are dentally neglected and many parents
still think that deciduous teeth are not important. It has been my aim for
several years to try and reach more of these children and the number
examined and treated have steadily increased. In 1963 only 348 children
were examined but in 1969, 1,225 children were examined (Appendix 12).
To further dental health education, the dental auxiliary continued
visiting nurseries and talking to mothers with young children at Infant
Centres.