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of 2,316 placed on the observation register might seem small, the benefit accruing
to those 114 by early discovery is inestimable. It would still seem very
worthwhile to continue the observation register as we are doing, while realising
that every child should be observed as often as is practicable, to ensure that
development proceeds normally.
Handicapped Children
As mentioned above a register is kept of all children with handicapping
conditions. The register needs to be kept up to date with information about
each child if it is to be of use in assessing his or her future needs. In a
large Borough with a great deal of movement of population this is a formidable
task.
Discussions have taken place during the year with a view to planning a
punch card system which would make the systematic reviews of handicapped
children and a recording of up-to-date information more efficient.
DENTAL SERVICE
Expectant and nursing mothers, and children under five years of age are
entitled to priority dental care under Section 22 of the 1946 National Health
Service Act.
During 1967 a total of 468.5 sessions were devoted to this aspect of the
dental service. This figure was equal to 9.8 per cent of all clinical dental
sessions worked in Hackney, which is just above the suggested national aim,
and well above the national average. Up to the beginning of 1967 the surgery
at 28 Lower Clapton Road was devoting over half a week to maternal and child
health dental services, an excessively high ajnount. This figure has now been
reduced to three sessions a week. As the total number of M.&C. H. attendances
fell by 441 patients it was in fact, a reasonable step to compress the smaller
numbers into fewer sessions. However, one must question the reason for low
attendance figures. If it is because these mothers and young children are
obtaining their treatment from the local dental practitioners then there is
reason to cheer. However, I suspect that this is not so. Judging from the
state of those mouths which have been seen by the Chief Dental Officer during
the year, many within these priority groups are not bothering to visit any
dental service. Something must be done in order to get these patients into
the dental surgery. It is hoped that the "Healthy Teeth for Hackney" campaign
arranged for 1968 will play its part in this process. Further details of this
campaign are given in the section of the report dealing with the school dental
service. Although the number of pre-school children attending for treatments
was less than in 1966, it was still 125 more than in 1965.
The number of pre-school children inspected went up by 275. This was
mostly accounted for by the 270 children examined by the Chief Dental Officer
in the Council's 7 day nurseries. This is a new innovation. It is hoped to
examine all such children at least twice-a-year; to get at them before they
develop oral disease and pain, and to encourage them to get to know the dentist
before any fears develop. It is essential to bring young children to the surgery
before their second birthday, and consideration is therefore being given to
sending Hackney children second-birthday cards to advise parents of the dental
facilities available to their offspring.
The percentage of children requiring treatment went down from 64.3 to
53.8. This is possibly accounted for by the fact that the vast majority of
children examined at the day nurseries had a much higher standard of dental
fitness (only 25.5 per cent required treatment) than did most children seen in
the dental surgeries. This is worthy of further investigation. It is probably
related to the fact that day nursery children eat a sensible diet during the
day with balanced regular meals and no between-meal snacks of cakes, biscuits
or sweets.