SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27010, 9 April 1953, Page 10

SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE

Additional Training Facilities Urged COMMITTEES DISCUSS PROBLEMS A South Island school for dental nurses would help recruiting for the school dental clinics, in the opinion of the Canterbury School Committees’ Association. Mr R. K. Milne was supported by all other members when he said last evening that accommodation difficulties in the North Island and the desire of girls and their parents for training opportunities nearer home wete a big consideration.

The proposal is already being submitted to the Minister of Health (Mr -J. R. Marshall) from the recent conference of the New Zealand School Committees’ Federation.

Mr D. Lee said there seemed to be no clear indication whether the Health Department hoped to bring all school children back under the care of dental nurses, or whether it proposed to maintain or extend the practice of sending older pupils to private dentists. Grouping of Patients Children up to standard six a few vears ago had been all handled by dental clinics, Mr Lee said. Since the shortage of nurses developed, more and more children were being sent to general practitioners. Although the dental clinics did fine work, the training of the nurses was limited and some parents might prefer a scheme which would enable children to be treated by dentists more frequently. “If we could get dentists to attend the clinics for certain periods, it would save a lot of the time now spent by children in travelling,” said Mr F. G. Briggs. . . Mr Milne said that the training of mate attendants might be useful, as nurses often left the service to marry. The trouble with that scheme was that dentists quickly took male operators into their businesses, said Mr A. Greenwood. , Salaries for male dental clinic attendants would cost as much as the enlisting of qualified practitioners, said Mr R. Claridge. Any limitation on the treatment by dental nurses was covered by their practics of recommending consultation ot a dentist for major work. Advice from Department The discussion was prompted by a Health Department reply to points raised by the .association. “What is a fair number of children to be treated by one dental nurse?” the association asked. “The School Dental Service is organised on the basis of each dental nurse giving complete dental attention and advice twice a year to as large a group of pre-school and primary school children as possible, the department said. . . . “The dominant factors in determining the number of patients any one nurse can control are the age of the patients, the nature of treatment to be given (initial or revision) and the amount of treatment required. “The initial treatment of 100 new entrants to school usually , represents as much work as the revision care of 500 older children, and the treatment of 100 children whose dental attention is a year delayed usually represents as much work as 300 children whose attention has been kept up to date. It is not possible to designate any figure as a ‘fair number’ of children to be treated by any nurse without knowing how all these factors apply to children in her group. “An over-all average would range in the vicinity of 425 or 450 patients a nurse, but in many centres where work has been in arrears as a result of a shortage of staff this average could not apply,” said the department.

Intermediate School Clinics “Children at intermediate schools should not receive dental treatment until all Standard IV children are treated,” said the second section of the association’s letter to the department. , j The department replied to this as follows:—“In a few clinics at intermediate schools, Form I and II childdren are treated, but this does not deprive Standard IV chilaren of dental attention. It is usually arranged that children from primary schools contributing to the intermediate school should also receive attention at the intermediate clinic as soon as their treatment ceases at their primary school clinic. Hence at the present time most intermediate clinics are treating children from Standard II or 111 up to Form I or 11, and all those who cannot be taken at the intermediate clinic enrol for treatment by dentists under provisions of the social security dental benefits. The total number of intermediate clinics in the South Island is only four, so the overall number of children affected one way or the other is relatively small.” Mr R. J. Cooper said he found the figure of 425 to 450 patients for each nurse interesting. He knew of cases where nurses did not treat anything like 400 patients. Where a clinic had had a full-time nurse for 15 years for treating children from the pre-school stage upwards, the attention required should not restrict numbers unduly.