[Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Wigan County Borough.

  • Wigan (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Wigan County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In the course of the year 1,590 appointments were wasted due to the children failing to attend. This represents an increase of just over 1 % compared with the previous twelve months, and since the dental staff had not received any prior notification of cancellation it was impossible to re-allocate these appointments in order that other children might benefit. The demand for the orthodontic service seems to be forever increasing, and a small waiting list still exists. During the year 70 new cases were undertaken for treatment and 113 cases were carried forward from the previous year. 57 cases were completed (again an increase of well over 100% compared with the previous year), 19 cases were discontinued due to lack of interest and co-operation from the patients and/or the parents, and 98 removable appliances were supplied and fitted. General anaesthesia was administered in 561 cases, 279 of these by a Dental Officer. Other forms of treatment included 182 operations comprising scaling and gum treatment, treatment of oral ulceration, dressing for the relief of pain, pulp cappings and the provision of self cleansing areas. Furthermore 205 patients underwent a complete or partial radiological examination either for diagnostic purposes with special reference to orthodontic treat¬ ment, or for aid during root treatment. Six patients had advanced forms of restorative work performed including porcelain jacket crowns and gold inlays. The Dental Health Education was this year concentrated mainly on pupils of infant and junior schools, and the health education organiser showed great ingenuity and enthusiasm in his work for a better dental health. A number of the dental hygiene kits produced by Colgate-Palmolive Ltd., was purchased by the Council and each child that started school in August was given a kit comprising of a toothbrush, a tumbler, a sample tube of toothpaste, accompanied by a personal letter. During the ‘Open Week’ in September five sessions were devoted to dental health education, and one dental officer and one dental attendant were in attendance to answer questions from the public. I am indebted to the Assistant Medical Officers, Health Visitors, School Nurses, Headteachers and Teachers for their enthusiasm and con¬ tinued co-operation in this important work of dental health education. PHYSICAL EDUCATION In the same way that failure to progress in the classroom alerts the school doctor to enquire whether there is any remediable medical condition contributing to the child’s poor response, so when a child’s physical per¬ formance is subnormal the attention of the school doctor should be focussed to ensure that there is no pathological condition, physical or emotional, requiring treatment. Thus, school medical and nursing staff must maintain effective contact with teachers of physical education and particularly with those who have not been specially trained for this work. Clearly there is scope for a rapprochment between the two professions at this point.