Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.
- Great Britain. Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.
- Date:
- 1944
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry. Source: Wellcome Collection.
19/26 (page 19)
![————— eel. administration of the service, both centrally and locally. Further, the body with whom practitioners in any general dental practitioner service are in contract should be a dental body. g7. We cannot in present circumstances usefully comment on all the administrative details which will have to be settled; but we would urge in view of the limited dental man-power available that every possible step be taken to secure co-ordination and co-operation between the various parts of the service at all levels. To give but a single instance: in many planes— those for instance in which dental Health Centres are established—it may be desirable that the general service should assist the local education authority in regard to the school dental service, that is, that the local education authority might ask some of the dentists practising in the Centre, without actually coming into their employment, to treat schoo] children under the “general service ’’ during certain sessions, the school authorities making all the arrangements for attendance, etc. In other places it may be that certain dentists will undertake part-time employment with education autho- rities devoting another part of their time to public general practice or private practice. Elsewhere, again, there will be whole-time dental officers of the local education authority, though we hope that any such whole-time employ- ment will not prevent a dentist from enjoying a variety of work or hinder those, for example, who leave school from continuing to visit a dentist whom they know. Our main point here, however, is that all such variant arrange- ments, suited to local circumstances, require close, friendly and continuing consultations between the various authorities concerned and the representa- tives of the dentists themselves. 98. We would make one further point. Although the general service will be—and clearly must be—available to members of the special classes as well as others, this will not exonerate the appropriate authorities from their special duties in respect of these classes. In the case of local education authorities, for instance, we envisage that at the beginning of school life © they will seek from the parent a general consent to the treatment of his children under arrangements made by them. If this is given it will be for the school authorities to provide the treatment or—if they make use of the general service for the purpose—to make all the arrangements for attendance, and so forth. It will be for them, too, to encourage acceptance, and if they find on inspection that a child, whose parent did not consent to his “‘ school ”’ treatment, has a neglected mouth, it will be for them to press again for this consent. The authorities for the special services are to take the initiative. The existence of the general service abrogates nothing from their responsibility, and their keenness will be vital to success. The same is true of the welfare service. Every expectant mother coming to a clinic should be dentally examined by a dental officer who should then (after consultation with the medical officer in regard to the patient’s general condition) decide on the treatment which is necessary. Every authority on whom a duty for the provision of a dental scheme is placed should appoint a chief dental officer responsible to them for the organisation and operation of the service, and this officer should Have direct access to the appropriate committees of the authority. Such an arrangement does occur to-day but it should be the general rule. | Dental Health Education 99. We have shown already how far the general public is from appreciating the need for regular inspection and treatment of the teeth, let alone any more positive or preventive attitude to oral health. The undoubtedly great efforts that have been made by the Dental Board, by individuals and by](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32179030_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
