DENTAL CLINIC IN LEVIN.

Shannon News, 14 December 1928, Page 3

DENTAL CLINIC IN LEVIN.

PERSONNEL OF CONFERENCE. Mr Elliott was sent by the Director of Dental Hygiene, Dr. T. A. Hunter on a mission to Levin to explain fully the requirements and responsibilities involved by the establishment of a State Clinic. There were present Messrs A. W. Hutchings (chairman), W. Smaill, J. W. Bishop, W. Davie, J. W. Procter, B. G. Roe,- K. Shaw, W. Fallooa and. H. G. Rerslake, members of the Levin School Committee; Miss Hitchcock (infant mistress), Mr R. .T. Foss (Headmaster); Messrs A. E. Hyde (chairman), A. Hill (secretary; and A. T. White (Headmaster), of the Shannon School.

Mr A,. W. Hutchings presided and extended a welcome to Mr Eliott, whom they were very glad to see because they were anxious to get to work on the scheme,. recognising its importance to parents and children alike.

LEVIN AND SHANNON i FORTUNATE. Mr Elliott said -he would not waste any time in advocating the undoubted merits of the State scheme. Levin Avas past that stage. Perhaps, however, Levin and Shannon did not realise how fortuate they were in getting the services of a dental nurse. The fact that out of 300,000 children attending the State Schools of New Zealand, so far not more than 40,001 were under dental treatment, avouW help to a realisation of how lucky these two tOAvns Avere. Levin was one cf eight; towns that Avould reeei\’C a nurse next year, the others being Papat'oetoe, Otahuhu, Waihi, Te Aroha, Matamata, Eketahuna, rind Petone. LOCAL RESPONSIBILITIES. “Our service is not a free service,” continued Mr Elliott, “and avo have jieA-er pretended that it- was. ’’ He explained that the Health Departmeur .supplied the nurse, paid her salary, and furnished the dental material and supplies. The Committee applying for a nurse had to undertake certain responsibilities. It must provide the surgery and keep it clean Avhile in use, pay for laundry required, and for the porver for heating, boiling, and lighting. The Public Health Department had nothing to do with the provision of the surgery beyond its friendly co-operation av it'n the Education Department in seeing that the accommodation was of the right type. The Health 'Department paid no subsidies for such Avork an ! did not care lioav the local people raised the money, but it Avas willing to help Avith its advice and sympathy. Iv different parts of the country the local administration Avas managed in different Avays. In one the Hospital Board Avas responsible for it. In another a combined.' eommirtee representing the Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce did the Avork, but in most cases the local administration fell on the School Committee.

COST TO COMMITTEE. The pirector of Dental Hygiene was of the that Levin should have a’.JB type of clinic with one operator and Mr Elliott presumed that the Committee would take the usual course of applying to the Education Department -through the Education Board for a subsidy to ereet the building. Iu approved eases the Education Department would subsidise the Committee ’g funds to the extent of £2 for £l. Building. costs were much cheaper in iChristchurch than in Wellington or Auckland, and cheaper again in Southland, but a B type clinic cost approx imdtely £2BO, of which the Committee would be required to raise one-third, or say £9O. In addition they would have to allow for certain furnishing which he specified and which would probably bring the whole cost to the Committee up to £l2O.

He Understood that some hitch had occurred in the production of the plans and specifications, no doubt due, as suggested to him that afternoon by a member of the Committee, to the fact that this was the first clinic of its type to be erected in the Wellington Education District. - Greytown had adapted a building and Masterton had Trust funds at its command. “I'have been instructed to tell you that these plans will be procurable to-morrow,” said the speaker. “They are there for you on demand.” CLINIC MAINTENANCE MUST BE FOUND. Maintenance, with which the local

To be Ready by March Ist. Operation and Method Explained. Levin a Main Centre—Shannon a Sub-Base, As the result of a conference in Levin on Monday night, preliminary arrangements were made for the opening of the State Dental Clinic which has been allotted to Levin and this should be in operation early in March. From the information given in the course of an enlightening and lucid address by Mr R. D. Elliott, Inspecting Dental Officer, it appears that the establishment of a Clinic in a town imposes certain financial and administrative responsibilities on the community and these have to be faced immediately in Levin if the services of the nurse available are to be retained. So many other centres are eager to obtain clinics that hesitation or delay will probably be fatal to local hopes.

committee Avas also charged, resolved itself into the,, cleaning of the building by scrubbing and polishing once a week, which the committee had to provide for, the nurse only/ doing the light cleaning; the laundry of the nurse’s uniform and tOAvels, an<j the supply of ■ electricity for lighting, heat' ing and sterilising—'probably involving a sum altogether of £25 a year for Avhieh, Avithout egotism, he could say they would get a Avonderful service.

PLAN OF THE BUILDING. Mr Elliott next idealt with ■ the elir.ic building and drew a rough plan shoAving at one end a surgery 11 £ feet by 13 feet, with Availing room, and nurse’s room at the other, the dimensions of the whole being 20 feet by 13 feet. He had that evening seen an ideal site on the other side of the infant school, for Avhieh he understood there was competition. The committee would be able to get standardised plans, and these required that the surgery should haA r e a northerly lighting. HOW THE SCHOOLS ARE GROUPED Coming to the organisation, Mr Elliott said Levin Avas to be a main centre, and Shannon a sub-base. Otaki could certainly not come into this or gauisation. The children in Hie Levin group would have to be brought / to Levin for treatment, and the Department had grouped the schools as folloavs: — Levin Group. Shannon Group.

That gave a total of 1369 children. The scheme did not treat fifth and sixth' standard children, who were roughly one-third of the total. Delete them from the list and they A\ r ould. have their maximum of 1000 children. One operator could not manage more. In fact 800 Avas about the limit of one nurse’s capacity.

FIFTH AND SIXTH STANDARDS EXCLUDED. ‘'One does not pretend,” continued Mr Elliott, ‘‘that the nurse is going to supply all the needs of all the children in Levin and Shannon districts. It has 'been decided by the authorities that Levin is to be a main treatment centre and Shannon is to be a subbase. Wherever possible we like the clinic to be inj the school grounds. Two years ago the Government found that it had bitten off more than it could chew, and' so the fifth and sixth standards were cut out of the scheme absolutely. Otherwise it would have been 50 years before all the! children were covered.' PARENTS’ CO-OPERATION ESSENTIAL.

It was no use doing this work, proceeded the speaker, unless they had the co-operation of the children—they were sure of that :"n Levin as they were getting it everywhere else. They must also have the co-operation of the. parents. If the nurses had to go on filling and extracting right through the child’s school life,, they would always be behind. The Department was aiming as far as possible to prevent caries or dental decay and that was why thej| were .absolutely insistent upon the co-operation of the parents. The parents must-see that the children cleansed their ' teeth twice daily—-af-tcr breakfast and before going to* bed. Another important matter was diet. Lunches of cake, bread, jam and butter were not helpful as containing too much of the carbo-hydrate group. There should be evidence .that this dental work was proving effective by the time the child reaolied the 4th standard. The Government then said: We have done all we can for you; we have taken care of your health dentally up to the - fourth standard, and the responsibility is now on you. Mr Elliott said his Department cost t-Jic 'State £38,000 a year and it was not a penny too much. The Plunket Society got a Government subsidy of £25,000 a year.

NURSE’S PROCEDURE. 1 The next point touched upon was the method followed by the dental nurse. He explained how she would

commence at her* main centre with the outlying schools as given in the groups set out above. The first step ,av as to draw' a line between the infants and the standards. There Avas no hope of the nurse being able to treat those children now in the standards. It was unfortunate for them, dentally speaking, that they had been born too soon. She then charted the mouths of the children in the infant department and sent out consent forms to the parents. When the parents gave their consent, and not till then, she was at liberty to start work. By getting this written consent, they put themselves on side with the parents and the profession. If the nurse Avere to go into the standards at the commencement she would be confronted by the necessity of performing major dental operations which she was not qualified by training or by law to do. The scheme was a well-thought-out one and the key-note of it was revision. She made a start on the infants and by constant revision it tvas possible to prevent decay. As she worked, through the primer classes at Levin the question of the rotation of treatment of the other schools in the group AA'Ould come up and that was a matter on which the local committee should be consulted. The professional control Avas entirely vested iu the Health Department.

REVISION OF WORK ASSURED. When the time came for the nurse to deal with the outside schools, she Avould first go to them and chart the children in the infant classes. The cost of travelling, if by rail, would be borne by the Government, but if by other means by the local committee. The nurse had to preserve the balance between the schools and she had to remember that revision of Avork already done Avas of paramount importance. WORK TO START AT LEVIN. The nurse Avould make a start at Levin and Avould not put in an appearance at Shannon for twelve months afterwards. Levin, he Avould say, had been more fortunate than Shannon, perhaps because it was bigger in population. “No amount of pressure,” said Mr Eliott, referring to this aspect of the matter, “will cause the nurse, to deviate from her appointed course —political or any other.”. He pointed out that Avith 250 applications for nurses and only 30 qualifying every year, the Departmental scheme had •to* be rigidly adhered to. REPLIES TO QUESTIONS. The chairman said they, had listened to a very clear and lucid explanation and he invited questions.. Replying to points raised by members, Mr Elliott 'said the onus Avas on the Department to see that the nurse kept her revision Avork up to date. Iv might, not- be. to the exact day, but they were ivorking on a sound plan and" he assured the meeting that there need be no misgiving that the nurse Avould go away and leave subjects already treated without rer’ision. The nurse worked full hours from 0 to 5 or 4.30 in Avinter, with an hour for lunch, and from 9 to 12 on Saturdays. The clinic Avas only closed for six weeks in the. year.

CLINIC MUST BE READY ON MARCH Ist. If the clinic was not ready for occupation on March Ist, Levin stood a very good chance of losing the nurse because there Avas so much demand for them, and he was making that .statement as a simple matter of fact and not in any sense as a threat. If delay occurred through nd fault of the Committee, the Health Department Avould bring what pressure to bear it could, but committees must understand that it did not concern the Department how they proA'ided the clinic. That Avas a matter between the Education Department and the Committee through the Education Board

' The Department had no relieving nurses, and could not promise to do anything if a nurse Avas ill, though in one such case steps had been taken to prevent the Avork' done being lost. It would be quite fair to levy a proportion of the capital cost of the clinic upon the schools in the group, but not the maintenance until they commenced to use the clinic.

The cost of transportation of tkn children lo the clinic from the outside schools must be borne by the parents. The point was raised whether Koputarpa should be attached to Levis or Shannonj. • The Levin Committee considered Levin was the natural centre for Koputaroa. Mr Hyde said it was nearer Shannon by rail and nearer Levin by road. It was agreed to leave the matter to the Ivoputaroa Committee to decide. Mr Elliott said the Department would be, guided by local wishes in the matter.

THANKS TO THE SPEAKER. There being no more questions, Mr Hutchings said the meeting was vevy much indebted to Mr Elliott for liis very frank and open address and they thanked him for liis visit and remarks (Applause). Mr Elliott thanked the Committee for the reasonable way they had met him. It had been a pleasure to come to Levin.

Mr Hyde thanked the chairman for his invitation to the Shannon Committee to come to the conference. They appreciated it very much.

IMMEDIATE ACTION TO BE TAKEN.

Discussing the matter subsequently, the Levin School Committee decided to make immediate application for a subsidy and for the necessary plans and specifications. The Treasurer said sufficient money was in hand to warrant this, but it would be necessary ta raise a further sum of £OO immediately. On Mr Smaill’s motion a sub committee consisting of the chairraar

Messrs Roe, Smaill, Shaw, the Headmatter and Secretary was set up to go intc ways and means of augmenting the funds. The Chairman said that lie would see what further information could be obtained in regard to the plans when in Wellington this week.

Levin .... 577 Shannon .. 323 Ohau 120 Tokomaru 118 Manakau . 1 (02 Makerua . 26 Muhunoa E. 16 ' Koput-aroa 82 815 551