CHILDREN'S TEETH

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 63, 8 December 1920, Page 8

CHILDREN'S TEETH

DEPARTMENT'S SCHEME EXPLAINED MR. HUNTER AND HIS CRITICS SOLE SOLUTION OF A GRAVE PROBLEM A statement in reply to criticism nf the scheme i'or the treatment of children's leetli was made by Mr. T. A. ixuiiicr, head ul' tlie JJemat .branch ot tne JiducatioiL .Department, to a Dominion reporter yesterday. "In. view vi luo statements nppeurinz in the daily Press in criticism or Wio Government scneuui lor tne dental trsuiment ot school children," said Air. Hunter," i leel it my duly again to deny tne charge that tne Government intends to einrjloy parliaUytraincd women in treating children ot the primer classes ot the public schools. Is'utiiing.could have been more williilly conceived than this attempt to warp the judgment of the public in reference to the scheme, and 1 feel bound to say that the unfair attitude of those opposed to the measure has been largely guided by tho special pleading of Professor Picket-ill of tho Dental School, Dunedin, who has employed every means in his power to lead the parents of tho children and the public generally to believe that I am tho advocate of inefficiency iu connection with the dental treatment of school children. "The Government proposals were placed before u representative meeting of tho executive of the Ji'ow Zealand Dental Association. At -this meeting, at which Professor I'ickerill was present by invitation, he was given every opportunity to stato his views, but the assembled delegates decided in favour of (ho Departments 6eheme by 10 votes to 7. After the meeting Professor Pickerill gave jiio his unsolicited promise that ho woul* do everything in his power to further the .success of the scheme. Jn the words Alt' the lato acting-director of the Dental School: 'What new development then has come forward to cause Dr. Pickcrill to change his indicated attitude? Why has he waited soveral months, allowed the plans to develop, and then made n violent attack on a scheme which ho had given his word not to oppose? The new fact, the announco- ' ment of which synchronised with ' Dr. Pickerill's attack, is that these dental nurses arc to be trained by a supervise! in Wellington, and consequently will not he under his control.' "The objections raised l>y Professor Pickerill in his arguments against the scheme- are as follow.— 1. That it is the intention of the Government to employ partiallytrained women, who will give inefficient service. 2. That in treating primer classes the Government is neglecting the more advanced dental trouble amongst the senior pupils. 3. That no provision is made for the treatment of children in country schools. i. That the principle of employing dental nurses for the carrying mit of simple operations has lx?en vetoed in Great Britain 5. That tho Government in failing to wait until ho has turned out sufficient numbers of qualified dentists from tho school, is neglecting to provide tho best service in tho interests of the imblic.

'/With regard to the first point:, Professor Pickerill knows bettor than iinyono in New Ken laml that the women who will ultimately he emplo,ve<l will, as the result of their intensive training. 1)0 infinitely better qualified to carry out simple dental operations than the graduate just qualified from tlio Dental School. They will receive an intonsfvo training in' their firxscinl branch which it is quito impossible to give the usual graduate; mid that this fact is so is borne out by n statomont rocontly made by n practising dentist, who graduated from the Dental School, that, from his own experience, he is convinced that after n two years' course devoted entirely to simple fillings and extractions the dental nurse will bo much better qualifioil to perform these operations than he himself was at the end of Ilia four years' course at the university. Those women will not be partially trained. They will be fully qualified and expert in the particular brunches in which they will lie employed, and in this connection it is pointed out that to train these women in other branches) of dentistry which would not be utilised would \y» an economic waste. For instance, of what uso would it be to train women to do oral surgery proper, such as treatment of rtentigcrous and other cysts, impacted teeth, cleft palate, etc., advanced operative treatment as gold fillings and inlays, crown and bridge work, and the making of artificial teeth. The employment of theso specially trained nurses ivill allow the 'qualified dentists in the snrvico to devote their higher skill and knowledge to the more difficult branches of the work, although in school dentistry much of this skill cannot be utilised. "Professor Pickerill's statement that the efforts of the Department should be . concentrated on eliminating'the advanced i dental trouble of the senior pupils is, :' in view of thn conditions in this country, ; an amazing indiscretion, and I .could not recommend to the Department such an illogical proposition. The scheme must i make a beginning, and all effort must be • so expended that the cumulative effect ' of the treatment will be directed towards . the earliest control of the school dental ; pixbleui. Which is the most commonl sense attitude to adopt? To attempt the s enormous amount of treatment for the . senior pupils with the necessorily restricted facilities at baud, and so allow I he present primers to experience the unfortunate conditions already reached bv tlwse now in the higher standards, or to correct the dental defects of tho pupils in the lower standards, and, following these up,lo achieve definite and beneficial results with all pupils in all standards by the time .tho children first to receive treatment finish their Stato school education? -My experience of the last 30 years ia dentistry and dental organisation goes for nought if I am not right in my conviction that the latter it tho only logical, courso to pursue. The older cluldreu will not be any worse off. There is still the private practitioner and the dental service connected with the public hospitals, and " in this direction I am using my influence to have such service extended when qualified dentists are available. "Tho assertion that no provision is made for the treatment of the children in the country schools is incorrect, and a grossly unfair attack upon the schema, for Professor Pickerill has troui tho first, been perfectly well aware of the Department's intention to give treatment in country districts by means of dental ambulances, a number of which are already fully equipped for the purpose. "The fourth point with reference to the employment of women in Great Britain indicates that Professor Pickerill has not hesitated to twist actions and incidents to suit his purpose in condemning the scheme. 1 have an intimate knowledge of the conditions reigning in Great Britain, being an honorary member of the British School Dentists Society, and appreciate the magnitude of the problem of giving dental treatment to six million school children, and 1 unhesitatingly state that the objections in Great Britain to the employment of women for this purpose have been based upon the proposal that untrained women should be employed. With this objection I heartily concur, but will anyone with oven the most elementary knowledge of our proposals maintain that the two cases are parallel in their application to school dentistry. On the one hand thero ic the proposal rightly vetoed by those in authority to employ, untrained women and on tho other hand the intention of the New Zealand Government to make use of the services of women after an intensive course of training over a period of two years in the special branch for which they will be employed. "The fifth and final objection, viz., that the Government should wait until the Dental School furnished school dentists, is one nearest the heart of the Director of the Dental School. This objection has an intimate bearing upon the output of his institution, thus nrovinz Professor Pickerill to be u very much iu(erested party in connection with the Government's' iiitentiono. It is perfectly plain that the employment of graduates only would greatly increase the emoluments of the echoo! and incidentally tho

prestige of the director, as by a substantial increase in the number of dental bursaries the number of students would be largely augmented, aud Prolessur Picker-ill woulu have the comforting knowledge that all graduates of the scUaol over ana above tlio number that tiio country could absorb year bv year I would bo employed by the Uuveruiutut. This would be a very satistactoiy state ui ihiiijjs lroui his point ol vicwi but there.' are objections 10 sucn a course." "ji-pan, irom tuu urgunny fl coping ! witii i,-, B proolem wiw Hie ioact poa- ( Sibw uuiay tue resuictiou of tue uolu - ui operations tor some cousiuorabio Ume to come would precmuo gruuuaas ou' ' employed irom tuo practice of many otnei- urancneo of Hie proussiun in waicu 6 ta*y havo been trained Again, it would ' be poisibie to reu.ni dental bua-sers m ] die Uovenuueiit servico lor a shore Umo ouiy, mi- uitnougu to women mm worlc would prove interesting, no man worth ius salt would be vonUmt mdeiiuitely to apply his university training largoly to mere simple operations. ] Thus the service would be in a- sUne ] ot continual change, and the Departmental organisation indescribably nan- 1 dicapped. Further, it is widely admitted that the avc-rago woman is very much more successtui m tno handling, i ot small children than tlie average man, and given a numbui- of inUy-tramea women 1 am perfectly confident that working under the supervision of qualified dentists as they will bo a spteutcr and better service will be rendered than by any other means, particularly ko wnen the conditions for the selection of these women are pointed out, some of whicii ate as follow:— Applicants must bo ovot 20 years of age, preference will be given to those between 'she ages of 25 and 35. Preference will bo given to applicants who are (reuistwrcdi trained nurses. Successful applicants will be accepted for a probationary period of two mouths. Such careful selection is not demanded in the case of students entering tin.* medical and dental professions. "Tho proposals about to be put into force by tho Government arc the result of experience and much thought, and I wish to state with all the emphasis at my command that in New Zealand, in my opinion, they embody the ono and only rational method of dealing with undoubtedly one of the greatest problems with which to-day the Governments of most civilised countrurs are faced." DENTISTS' OPPOSITION TO SCHEME. Bv Telctrrnnh—l'i'eiß Association.' ChrisUhurch, December 7. At a special general meeting of the North Canterbury branch (Ohnstchurch) ot the Now Zealand Dental Association tho following resolution was passed: "That this brauch reaffirms its opposition to the Government's proposal to employ partially-trained women as operators to cany out the dental treatment of school children; that.this branch stands for nothing less than the employment of qualified dentists, male or female, for this work, that tho employment of dental nurses is advocnted, but purely to carry out nurses' duties."