DENTAL WORK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 513, 22 April 1933, Page 6

DENTAL WORK

QUARTERLY MEETING OF CLINIC COMBIITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT ^ PROGRESS OF TREATMENTS (From Our Own Correspondent). Very little business came before the quarterly meeting of the Opotiki School Dental Clinic Committee at its meeting on- Thursday evening. Those present were: Messrs A. Burrett, ch'airman, F. G. Kibblewhite (headmaster), J. J. Moody. M&sdames O. J. Fox J. Mansell, Burgess and Mr. C. Cave secretary. The chairman remarked that he would like to see country representatives take a keener interest in the working of the clinic and also suggested that the native district nurse should be invited to attend the meetings of the clinic committee in order to keep them more in touch with the native sehools in the district. It was resolved to extend an in--vitation accordingly. It was resolved to hold the annual meeting of th'ose interested in the dental clinic on May 23 and to invite the public to attend. Nurse's Report The following report of the dental nurse, Miss L. Ferguson, was presented and adopted. The( school dental clinic in Opotiki was opened on April 20, 1932, although owing to the fact that the surgery was not ready, actual operative work was not started for several days after. During the year, eight sehools have received systematic treatment — ten were examined, including the four native sehools, Waioeka, Maraenui, Torere, and Omarumutu, but, owing to' transport trouble, Torere and Omarumutu have been very unsatisfactory and the children from these two sehools have not attended regularly. Special auth'ority having been given by the Department, the treatment of the Maraenui native school was carried out in a temporary sub-base at the Maraenui schoolhouse during February of this year. All the -other sehools," however, have visited the clinic for treatment. Excluding Torere and Omarumutu sehools there are 194 children under treatment a.s follows. — Opotiki District High, 102; Woodlands, 'v7; Otara, 8; Paerata Ridge, 2; Waiotahi, 7; Kutarere, 3; Waioeka Native, 23; Maraenui Native, 14; Under school age, 28. Under school age patients are children from 3 to 5 years of age and as it is particularly important that children should receive dental treatment as early as possible, the Department encourages this branch of the work whenever possible. At the Torere Native School, * 15 patients were examined and at Omarumutu 40, but as these children have not received regu^ar treatment they are not included in this report. Altogether 1,570 patients have been given treatment, the operations done being: — Fillings in permanent teeth 458; fillings in deciduous teeth 2292; permanent extractions, 29; deciduous extractions 477;' n^Lscellaneous operations, 1264. making a total of 4520 operations. Miscellaneous operations include a number of treatments which have been given to children who are rtot patents to relieve pain from toothache. Under Age Children "It does not appear to be generally known that although the school entrance age is now six years children may attend the dental from th'e age of three years even though they are not attending school. Parents should malce full use of this service ■as it will materially assist the clinic as well as the children," commented the chairman when discussing this phase of the position.