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72
Inspections
An agreed system of dropping school inspections other thanfornew entrants
at age 5 years and substituting an advice letter to parents to obtain a dental
'check up' was introduced with effect from September 1965. This means that
children will only receive one inspection during their school lifetime. A
clinical estimate of the dental health of our schoolchildren will not now be
available, which is, in my view, a retrograde step, for the essential function
of the public health dental service is to establish the prevalence of dental
disease in order to plan for its control and treatment in relation to the
available resources.
As the scheme has only been functioning for a very short time, it is
difficult to assess its potential success. However, the statistics are as
follows:-
1. Quarter ending September 1965 ('Old Scheme')
(a) Patients given appointments, 5,628 Acceptance rate
Average per session - 6.0 40%
(b) Patients attended by appts: 2,286
Average per session - 2.4
2. Quarter ending December 1965 ('New Scheme')
(a) Patients given appointments, 6,321 Acceptance rate
Average per session - 6.0 40%
(b) Patients attending by appts: 2,536
Average per session - 2.4
The acceptance rate has therefore remained constant but, asunder the Did
Scheme' , new cases sent for included those who normally attended general
practitioners. This indicates that with the new scheme, waiting lists will be
reduced by approximately half, thus enabling the recall of patients who accept
treatment at our surgeries at more frequent intervals until the desirable period
of an inspection every four months is reached.
It is alarming to note from the inspections of school entrants - 5 year
olds - that almost 80% need treatment. In some of these infant schools there
are a large number of immigrant children, and it is significant that their inherited
excellent teeth have begun to decay with our dietary habits almost
before they have learnt to speak English.
Treatment
Of 34,982 attendants for treatment, some 26,229 fillings were inserted,
and 5,193 extractions were performed as follows:-
Age Groups No. of Extractions
5-9 years 3, 231
10-14 1,962
15 & over 228