Annual report of the Public Health Department / Zanzibar Protectorate.

  • Zanzibar. Public Health Department.
Date:
[1944]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Public Health Department / Zanzibar Protectorate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/14 (page 5)
    ■the campaign hud commenced was now redoubled. It was found during the course of. working that, contrary to opinion, fathers had little to say in the question of whether a child should have dental treatment or not and that it was the grand-mothers and mothers who were the real arbiters. I, therefore, decided to devote as much time as possible to the Arab Girls School, where many of the future mothers and teachers of the new generation were being educated. I gave a series of lectures, with the epidiascope, to the teachers and the teachers in training which were so much apprecia¬ ted that copies of the lectures were asked for. Similar attention was given to Dole Boys School and some of the pupils of which were expected to become teachers. The action of the Director of Education when he agreed to incorporate in the school entry forms, a paragraph which parents or guardians signed, agreeing to dental treatment for school children proved of great assist¬ ance. 5. The commencement of the war and its concurrent conservation of stocks and materials and my Z.N.V.F. services virtually put an end to my work in the districts but the foundation had been laid and when the Assist¬ ant Dental Surgeon arrived at the end of 1940 he merely had to carry on the programme and work of the previous seven years. 6. The third phase commenced at the beginning of 1943 when an organized system was arranged and was marked by the fact that although I was on leave for part of that year, a bigger return in figures for work done was shown than hitherto and the figure will be even higher this year. This phase consists of practical work. Most of the difficulties have been overcome and it is only occasionally that dental treatment is refused. 7. It is very refreshing to observe that many -applicants for Government positions present them¬ selves for examination with clean mouths with many fillings. Many have continued to visit me after leaving school which does show an appreciation of the dental service. 8. On several occassions seeds of various vegetables have been given to schools to add to their gardens to aid the diet but it is only since Government has given the foods free that the children eat them. 9. No school has shown a definite racial type of mouth, doubtless due to the vast inter-racial marriage in the past, although schools in the south of the Island of Zanzibar tend to show a racial type of mouth. Vincents Angina has a periodicity usually during the wet season. Although impacted wisdom teeth are considered rare in native tribes they are quite common in Zanzibar. Hypoplesia is most uncommon but gingivitis in its many forms is found frequently due to lack of oral hygiene. The actual tooth structure is very good indeed and it appears that the essential salts for the calcification of teeth are abundantly present in the children’s teeth. It is however clear that the chief cause of dental disease in the Protectorate is the lack of oral hygiene and that the best way to secure an improvement is through the school dental service. 10. It will be seen from the above that the work involved in maintaining the school dental service leaves little time for other dental activities nevertheless not an inconsiderable amount of work has been done for the native population. 11. When I first commenced work the local popula¬ tion had to be coaxed to have work done—unless in pain—and, so long as a tooth was not causing pain, no argument was strong enough to convince the patient of the necessity for extracting it. 12. A daily dental out-patient hour was begun and this is now an accepted part of the hospital routine and its popularity with the people is ample recompense for the time and energy expended in the early days. 13. As will be appreciated, I could not do everything at once, and this out-patient hour, being an essential, caused a curtailment of the hours which could be devoted to the schools. This gave the impression of a disjointed dental service for some years, but, the endeavours made during the first seven years to build up an efficient dental service now bear fruit, and neither the general population nor school children are now afraid to present themselves for dental treatment. I. STRATHEAEN BUTTER, Dental Surgeon.