Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.

  • Great Britain. Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/26 (page 18)
    Id will also need to be borne in mind. This ‘‘ general service,’’ as we have called it, should be available to all who wish to use it. The detailed administrative arrangements will, of course, be matters for discussion between the Govern- ment and the dental profession, but there is a point of principle which we wish to emphasize here. We are in full agreement with the British Dental Association’s view, aS given in their memorandum of evidence to us, that ‘“ any scheme for a comprehensive dental service must have as its foundation the family ’’. We recognize of course that a great part of the population to-day have no such relation with a dental practitioner as is conveyed by the term ‘‘ family dentist ’’; but it must be an object of policy to encourage the development and growth of such a conception by all possible means. Health Centres 93. The use of Health Centres as a medium for the provision of dental treatment is a matter to which we have given careful consideration. Dental Health Centres will undoubtedly provide facilities for team work, and it may well be that in certain localities they will effect economies in dental man-power and equipment. 94. We note in connexion with the Government’s proposals for a National Health Service that the future development of the ‘‘ Health Centre ’’ idea will depend upon the results of a full trial of this method of organising practice. We recommend that during the experimental stage dental Health Centres should be established in suitable areas. We are of opinion that there should be local consultation with the profession not only as to the development, siting and size of these Centres, but also as to their internal arrangement, design and equipment. They may be either separate or (preferably) a part of the general Health Centre where other kinds of care are received. We share the desire of the Incorporated Dental Society to see the services of dentists in- cluded wherever possible in Health Centres set up for the purpose of providing medical and surgical treatment. ‘We see no reason why the dentists employed by local authorities should not operate in these Centres; on the other hand we contemplate that they will mainly be staffed by those who elect to come into the ‘‘ general’’ service. Many dentists may wish to work for only a part of their time in such a Centre, whether or not their whole time is devoted to public dental service; such a wish should in our view be respected wherever it is practicable todo so. It is our considered view that there should be no kind of compulsion either upon dental practitioners to work in these Centres, or upon patients to receive their dental treatment in them. It will in many cases no doubt be found convenient for a dental laboratory to be associated with the dental Health Centre. Specialist Services 95. Although, up to the present, there has been relatively little specialisa- tion in dentistry, such subjects as oral surgery, orthodontics (the regulation of children’s teeth) and, to a lesser extent, radiology have come to be regarded as special branches of practice. It should be the aim of a compre- hensive dental service to make available to those who need them, all necessary facilities for special diagnosis and treatment. Co-operation and Co-ordination of the Services ) 96. The comprehensive dental service as we see it will be made up of several elements—the general service and the service for special classes, the separate practice and the group practice in dental Health Centres—-and it is important that these several elements should be a source of strength and not of weakness to one another. Moreover it is in our view essential that full use should be made of the expert guidance of dentists in the planning and