[Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Bradford City / County Borough.

  • Bradford (West Yorkshire, England). Metropolitan District Council.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Bradford City / County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    227/274 (page 211)
    I have purposely withheld in past reports from stating of the benefits accruing from the establishment of dental treatment of school children. I however, feel after close upon four years’ whole time work amongst these children, I may be allowed to speak with some little authority on the subject. Every doctor knows, and now every Head Teacher in Bradford agrees that there is considerable difference both physically and mentally between a child requiring dental treatment and one already treated. Personally we have had under our care this year several cases which have been of a most interesting, both as regards their con- ditions and the value in proving beyond doubt the intimate relation- ship between Dental Disease and other Diseases. Here are two illustration cases :— (1) Girl 13. Suffering from septic discharging tuberculous gland. The wound had been dressed for some weeks, but the dis- charge continued. After extraction of one or two carious teeth the discharge ceased and sinus healed. (2) A girl came to the Clinic in an extremely exhausted con- dition as she never had a full night’s sleep for some weeks. She had a cough, a high temperature, and could not eat anything. The girl was found suffering from a septic infection of the gums which was diagnosed as cause of the trouble. The condition found was treated systematically each day for about a week and three times weekly for another fortnight. As the conditions in the mouth improved so did the child’s general health, and although she was considered previously to be dying, after dental treatment she became strong and healthy again. I have only quoted these cases which are amongst numerous others to show that the dental clinic is doing good work in pre- venting at least many of the minor ailments in children.