STATE DENTAL SCHEME

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 68, 14 December 1920, Page 3

STATE DENTAL SCHEME

TREATMENT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN A REPLY TO PROFESSOR ' PICKEIULL Mr. T. A. Hunter, Chief Dental Officer, has replied to Dr. Pickerill's latest criticism of the GovernmoiuV'ECheme for the dental treatmoJit o-f school children as follows:— "I state unequivocally 'that Dr. Pickerill gavo bio liis promise that he would support tho Department in tho currying cut of the Stato school dental scheme. With'regard to his sjtntoment that liis action in opposing tho scheme lias 'been due to the ract that the executive 6f tho New Zealand, Dental Association declined ■to reopen the discussion, I have to stato that tlio following telegraphed reply to my inquiry regarding tho point has been .xeoeived irom the secretary of the executive of the New Zealand Dental Assotion:—No (Constitutional reciueßt to reopen discussion lieen received.'

"In the light of this information, Br. Pickerill's attitude, and that, of thoso branches of' the New Zealand Dental Association who have used tho Press to condemn tlio scheme, can only be regarded as highly unconstitutional, and a breach of faith with the head executive, fcio far from {leuying that women with two years' training can acquire the knowledge and manual dexterity ,neccsiwry for .the efficient treatment of tlio teoth of the children of the primer classes, of public schools, Professor Pickeriil agreed in conversation with me that 18 months would be sufficient in hig opinion to train these women for tho service in'question. In support of this contention tho following letter received from Professor I'ickorill on September 15 conclusively _ proves not onJy that ho acf>iiipsccrl in tlw Government's proposals, but actually contemplated the two years' training ru; the Dontnl School," Dunedin: I enclose herewith a rough . of proposed course for the dental nurses.

...il i.vti:, perhaps, with surprise that I have put down' a course of .ohlp carving and metal work ns a preliminary canter. Something of 'thu sort is essential, in order to break in' their finger# and Induce some decree of manual rtejc terity before turning them on to operative work, and we-ennnot, of course, instruct them in mechanical dentistry which usually serves this purpose.. Tile provision of such a course, too, might be useful; if at any time you wanted to discharge a nurae it could not be said that she had been taught absolutely nothing else than operative dentistry. Of courso. the possibility of the nurses being trained here depends upon the provision of adequate accommodation and the appointment o[ nn assistant to help with their training. These suggestions are, of coursc, tentative; and I havo not yet considered timftable difficulties,'nor has it been, befosa tho council 'or the faculty.—(Signed)' H. P. 'Pickerill.. • . . ,

"Thus, • the- change in his indicated attitude apparently dates from the time when it vaa decided that; the training of these-women wouldbe undertaken by the Department in .Wellington.' "His iiHsertion that- the idea of specialisation without fundamental knowledge is radically wrong cannot be given serious consideration,/in view of the fact that preference will be given by the Department to (applicants who are '-registered trained nurses. It will'be readily conceded that registered nurses) apart from the additional training which they will receive,during their" two years' intensive course, already possess a fundamental knowledge of anatomy nnd physiology, and have practical experience in : .Tarious branches of clinical work. ."Professor Pickerill is perfectly aware iliat for the successful initiation of the, echemo it' was extremely expedient from' the point of view of public interest that clinics he established in the four centres. Further, although contain facilities exist in the four centres, such aro agreed to be quite inadequate -to cope with the enormous amount of treatment necessary *? r ft® of the larger cities of t : ho Dominion. . The-country children ar ? n n °t to be neglected. . Their needs will be supplied through the use of dental ambulances, a number of which arealreadr equipped for this; purpose. Iho Department's ' objections 'to the employment of graduates of the Dental school only havo been previously sla'ba' njid I again, affirm that Professor Pickenll is-too interested ,a. parrfr '-for the public, to attach, that importance to his pea on behalf of the children, that he •has endeavoured to infer. Apart from the economic wasto of employing fouryear graduates from the University, I unhesitatingly state that a speedier, better,, and more sympathetic son-ice will I> o obtained by the employment of specially trained women. Dr. Pickerill states that he can provide- thirty qualified dentists .sooner-than the Department can provide twenty two-year dental nurses, but I would point out that satisfactory progress in dealing with this problemivill demand a far greater number of operators tlianit will be possible for the Dental School >ver to provide, especially as the increasing demand for dentitl servico by the adult population will tax the resources of the school for many years to come.

professor Pickerill's . references to medical procedure during epidemics proves Hhat ho has made the extraordinary error of classing the. Government scheme as an emergency measure when it is surely evident iihat provision must !? , m ? (le t>or permanent-treatment, and that for the early control of the, school dental problem nil effort be bo expended that; definite and beneficial' reW be'obtained over all pupils in all standards with the least -possible de{ny. Such a desirable resfilt can never be achieved by concentrating on the enormous amount of treatment necessary •for the advanced pupils, "After careful consideration of Profes--1 ickerill's criticism, I emphatically Bjßte that it cannot be maintained that the various points raised by him have in any way affected, the future successoperation of the Department's •theme.'