[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Northampton County Borough.

School inspections continue but progress is slow as the necessary treatment is given to all consenting children at each school before the next school is visited. On average one school per month is visited, and until every infants and junior school has been visited there is a large amount of preparatory clerical work to be done. Repeat visits, however, should not require so much preparation. The staffing position remains the same, and the assistance given by the assistant dental officers enables us to offer treatment in a matter of weeks of a child being inspected within the limited group examined, whereas without their help it would probably be months before anything could be done. Until an additional Dental Surgeon is appointed, no further improvement in the service can take place. The matter of fluoridation of water is being carefully observed, but nothing has been done in this County Borough. In the early part of the year it was found that by concentrating on conservative dentistry and by giving preference to the safer and more reliable local anaesthetics for extractions, it was possible to reduce the gas sessions to one per week, and thus have an extra session for fillings, etc. It being the duty of every Dental Officer to save children’s teeth where possible, the figures given of school children (Ministry of Education return) shews that the ratio of fillings to extractions (all teeth) is 4647:1964 —that is greater than 2:1, an improvement on last year in keeping with this policy. New apparatus has been installed in the form of BORDEN “ AIROTOR ” Turbine Cavity Preparation Apparatus which would seem to be appreciated by the patients in preference to the conventional drill.