London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hackney 1971
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
This page requires JavaScript
37
DENTAL CARE FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
1971 again saw progress in this field. The vast bulk of decayed
teeth have now been filled, so it has been possible to concentrate on
the prevention of gum disease and tooth decay. This accounts for the
vast increase in dental health sessions, prophylaxes, and application
of topical fluorides. For this aspect of the dental service the team
of dental auxiliaries plays a very large part and everyone is very
grateful for their work. The ratio of teeth filled to teeth extracted
has risen to 10.2:1 (9.8:1 in 1970), which is very good for this
type of patient.
| 1. Sessions | 1970 | 1971 |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Treatment | 189 | 226 |
| (b) Dental Health Education | 85 | 113 |
| 2. Visits for Treatment | ||
| (a) First Visits | 74 | 118 |
| (b) Subsequent Visits | 1279 | 1847 |
| (c) Total Visits | 1353 | 1965 |
| (d) Emergencies | 8 | 13 |
| (e) Patients made dentally fit | 80 | 82 |
| (f) Additional courses commenced | 19 | 26 |
| 3. Analysis of General Treatment | ||
| (a) Fillings | 338 | 265 |
| (b) Teeth filled | 285 | 245 |
| (c) Teeth extracted | 29 | 24 |
| (d) Prophylaxis | 1080 | 1231 |
| (e) Scaling | 133 | 133 |
| (f) Topical Fluorides | 49 | 164 |
| (g) Teeth otherwise conserved | 122 | 13 |
| (h) Teeth root filled | 3 | 1 |
| (i) Crowns | NA | 4 |
| (j) Chairside dental health education | 419 | 85 |
| (k) Patients fitted with dentures | 2 | 3 |
| (l) Total dentures fitted | 2 | 5 |
| 4. Inspections | ||
| (a) First inspections | NA | 118 |
| (b) Requiring treatment | NA | 109 |
| (c) Offered treatment | NA | 109 |
| (d) Re-inspections | NA | 43 |
| (e) Requiring treatment | NA | 36 |
NA = Not Available.