London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
East Ham 1923
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for East Ham]
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69
Although the number of parents who realise the benefit of the
Dental Clinic is increasing, there is still an appalling number of
parents who, either through apathy or ignorance, do not seek
dental treatment for their children, and also fail to take the
trouble to see that they carry out the elementary principles of oral
hygiene. Ultimately the child comes to the Dental Clinic suffering
from oral sepsis or badly abscessed teeth, and the result is
premature extraction of temporary and permanent teeth. This leads
to mal-occlusion, mal-mastication, and loss of the full development
of the jaws. Thus the child is handicapped for the rest of
its life and its future health is impaired. This ignorance and
apathy can be fought by educating the parents and children in
the importance of dental hygiene.
During the year it was felt to be a necessity to inspect all the children whose parents stated that they had received treatment, other than under the Authority's Scheme, either at their own dentist or at hospital. This inspection was carried out early in September, and it was found that only 12.1 per cent. of the mouths of these children were free from dental caries.
| Free from Dental Disease | 103 |
| One Tooth decayed | 126 |
| Two Teeth decayed | 161 |
| Three Teeth decayed | 150 |
| Four Teeth decayed | 82 |
| Five Teeth decayed | 47 |
| Six Teeth decayed | 22 |
| Seven Teeth decayed | 6 |
| Eight Teeth decayed | 11 |
| Absent from Re-inspection | 139 |
| Total | 847 |
Unfortunately, it is our experience that, apart from the School
Dental Clinic, treatment is seldom obtained elsewhere. The following
letter is typical of the attitude of local dentists and parents
in regard to the School Dental Clinic:—
" Dear Sir,
My son has a very badly decayed tooth, which the
dentist refuses to take out. It is causing him a great deal
of pain, and for several nights he has had very little sleep
because of it. I should like him to go to the Clinic
Dentist. Could you kindly give him a permit to do so?
My dentist has told me he does not like to meddle with
children's teeth. He seems to think the Clinic Dentist has
more experience with children."
The adoption of the revised scheme of payment by parents of
the cost of dental treatment has had very encouraging results,
insomuch that the acceptances for treatment have greatly increased.