[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough.

  • Birkenhead (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Birkenhead County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    68/74 (page 66)
    on the premises, which has proved very satisfactory indeed and has achieved excellent results. At the end of the year the new surgery being constructed in this clinic was coinpleted. Thus, there are now live fully equip^jed surgeries. The condition of the children’s teeth remains much the same as in recent years. There is still a great deal of dental caries, and a small degree of intiammation of the gums is not uncommon. Children and parents are taking more interest in the teeth and more children are brushing their teeth regularly. The]-e have been many enquiries by mothers concerning irregularities in the teeth; a number of these Orthodontic cases have been treated, some by simple extractions and some by the use of applumces. In several cases X-Eay examination has revealed the presence of teeth buried in the gum as the cause of the irregularity, and these have been removed surgically under local anaesthesia. iMost of the School Dental Officers’ time is spent in dealing with ravages of dental caries, either by extraction or conservative treat- ment. The aetiology of dental caries has yet to be fully elucidated, but there is evidence that the diet plays an important role. Eeports indicate that a diet rich in fresh foods, produced from healthy soils, are A'ery beneficial, not only for ’the dental health, but for health generally. Just at a time when iniplementation of the 1944 Education Act and the National Health Service Act was contemplated, the trans- ference of DeiE^d personnel from the Schools Health Service to National Health Service is of course due to the lack of decision by tlie various bodies concerned on a suitable and adequate remuneration of School Dental Surgeons. ('onse(jueiitly tlie treatment given at this clinic will inevitably have to be considerably curtailed, which will be a disappointment after so many years of efficient service.”