DENTAL TREATMENT FOR RECRUITS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2610, 4 November 1915, Page 6

DENTAL TREATMENT FOR RECRUITS

Most_ people probably will have read with puzzled wonder the' announcements wliich have been made from time to time as to the attitude of the Dcfence Department and the Governmont towards would-be re'r criiits whose teeth require attention before they can be passed as fit fdr active service. One would think that tho least the Government could do when a man offers his life in the service of his country would be to provide any necessary dental attention to enable him to take his place in the ranks, and not throw the cost of such' treatment oil the man himself. But apparently tho Defence authorities have not until recently felt this obligation to rest on their shoulders, and even now a man willing to serve his country and risk his life in its causo might, so far as tho Government is concerned, find himself compelled to incur a more or less heavy dentist's bill before his country will make us 6 of his services. In face of the demand for men, this seems both a stupid and an unjust policy. Happily the position is now considerably improved, and the announcement made by the Minister of Defence yesterday may be taken as an earnest of good intentions for the future. It would bo ungracious, however, to overlook the fact that this improvement is largely due to the generosity of the New Zealand Dental Association and its members. So far back as June last tHe association made the offer to the Government that its members would treatrecruits whose teeth required attention before they could pass the medical test at hospital rates; that is to say, at. the cost of the material used. This offer has now been taken advantage of by the Minister, who also proposes to extend the provision for dental treatment at present existing at Trentham and Tanherinikau camps. It is well that these facts should _be widely known, for it is most discouraging to a- man who has resolved to make tho sacrifices entailed by enlisting to find that he has practically to buy his way into the forces by reason of his b'ad or insufficient teeth necessitating dental treatment, for which he has to pay out of his own pocket. Now, as stated, this condition of things has been largely remedied, and the Minister is to be congratulated on having accepted the generous offer of assistance made by the Dental Association.