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21
Unfortunately there were 667 failed appointments, which is equivalent to 20.9
per cent of all the appointments given. This is a great waste of everyone' s
time. If only parents would notify the clinic when they are unable to bring
their child, the appointment could be offered to someone else.
44.7 per cent of the children were made dentally fit (26.1 per cent in
1969). There was a large rise in the number of fillings completed, and the
ratio of teeth filled to teeth extracted rose from 10.4 to 1, to 14.4 to 1.
This quite clearly shows that the dental staff are doing much more to save teeth
rather than to remove them. It ispartially a reflection of thepolicy of sending
selected officers on post graduate courses and conferences, where they learn
about all the up-to-date techniques. They greatly appreciate this facility.
Mothers - The number of visits has more or less remained constant. The ratio
of teeth filled to extracted has increased from 2.4 to 1, to 4.8 to 1. Thirty
per cent of appointments were not kept.
This is an opportune moment to review the progress of the dental service
for pre-school children since the coming together of the three boroughs in 1965.

N. A. - Not available *-Includes mothers' sessions in 1969