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72
However, in 1962 the school population of the 11 ford area was
22,500 whereas now the Redbridge school population is over 32,000.
In 1960 it was only possible to inspect 6,5% of the children; this
figure has slowly increased over the ten years to 1969 when 95% were
inspected. This has been possible for two reasons. Firstly, less demand
for treatment on the school dental service, as more conservative treatment
is now being carried out under the general dental service and,
secondly, the higher standard of dental health in school children which,
I am sure, is due to the increase in dental health education which has
gone on over the past years. The aims of the service are in the following
order:—
1. Inspection of as many children as possible each year.
2. Treatment of all who wish to receive it through the school dental service.
3. Dental health education.
Inspections
It is very important that as many children as possible are dentally
examined each year. It is often only by these inspections that parents
can be informed that their children require dental treatment. During 1969
30,359 children were dentally examined and this represents 95% of the
school population. It has taken a considerable effort to achieve this but
looking to the future I think that one inspection per year is not sufficient.
Teeth in children can decay very rapidly and, therefore, an inspection
every 4-6 months would be the ideal. There are many difficulties to
overcome before this will be possible. The number of children referred
for treatment was 12,970. I think this figure shows the value of school
dental inspections.
Treatment
Treatment was carried out on all patients accepting it from the
Authority.
The South Park Dental Clinic, which commenced to treat patients in
October 1968, continued during 1969 with six sessions per week. The
number of patients attending has slowly increased. The six sessions
per week appear to be adequate for the school population in the Clinic
area. The number of crowns supplied mainly to children having broken
one or more front teeth, increased considerably. This shows a higher