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(Special cases :—Decayed teeth 5).
It will be seen from the tables appended hereto that there is
a large proportion of the children inspected suffering from decayed
teeth. In 1247 out of 1764 children examined, or 71.6%, decayed
teeth were present. In 22% of the cases the condition is serious,
while in 49% the defective condition, although not so serious, will
probably become so unless the condition is remedied. In a few
cases the dental conditions had resulted in producing a septic
condition of the mouth, which cannot but have a prejudicial
effect on the child's health.
There is little doubt that decayed teeth play a very important
part in undermining a child's health, as apart from the pain and
discomfort caused by a decayed tooth, the continued absorption
of the poisonous decayed matters into the body produces enlarged
glands and lowered general health; while with decayed and aching
teeth it too often happens that the child cannot, because of the
pain, masticate his food properly, thus the legacy of an impaired
digestion so often found in later years. It will be seen that in
only 95 instances had children any bad teeth extracted, and in
only 7 cases had any teeth been filled, thus shewing the extent
to which diseased conditions receive timely attention. This is
due in a large proportion of cases to the feeling that conservative
dentistry is beyond their means.