[Report 1954] / School Health Service, Cornwall County Council.

  • Cornwall (England). County Council. School Health Service.
Date:
1954
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1954] / School Health Service, Cornwall County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    32/70 (page 30)
    run in conjunction with the Trevenson Technical College, where the intermediate pupils attend for lectures in chemistry and physics. In- struction in the theory of dental mechanics, the properties of dental materials and practical dental mechanics is given at the laboratory by the Senior Technician-in-charge. One day per week is allocated to teaching duties during normal working hours plus in addition one evening session of 3 hours per week. The results of the intermediate and final examinations held this year were:— Examin- Number of Candi- Degree of % of ation dates Passes Pass Passes Intermediate 5 3 2nd class 60% Final 6 2 2nd class 33% This pass rate compares favourably with the pass rate for the whole country w'hich was:— Intennediate 52% Final 21% Dental Health Education Valuable work in educating children in the importance of mouth cleanliness and correct eating habits has been carried out by dental officers and the oral hygienist. The opportunity arose during the year of speaking to two large gatherings of children at Saturday morning cinema performances which included a colour film on the care of the teeth. The time taken for talks of this natme is small in comparison to the potential good which is achieved, when bearing in mind that approximately 2,000 children of all ages were assembled at these two performances. Use has been made of some of the excellent posters and film strips produced by the Dental Board of the United Kingdom, and by the Ministry of Health concerning the care of teeth. The observations contained in the 'Health of the School Child’ for 1952 and 1953 are of considerable interest in this respect:— ‘The increase of dental caries in school children, as shown by the Ministry’s 1953 survey, indicates the importance of, and need for, dental health education. It seems that substantial bene- fit might follow a realisation by children and their parents of the importance of diet m relation to tooth decay. To change the food habits of tlie population has appeared to some so formidable a task as scarcely to be worth attempting but, given sufficient time, the attitude of the public might well be influ- enced to a worth while extent .... If full use were made of all