General Dentistry “At Crossroads”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30479, 29 June 1964, Page 14

General Dentistry “At Crossroads”

“I think that general dentistry is at the crossroads,” said Professor C. F. Ballard, head of the orthodontics department of the Eastman Dental Hospital. London, when he was interviewed in Christchurch last evening.

“I think that ancillaries should be made available to carry out routine techniques, under the supervision of ordinary general dental practitioners,” said Professor Ballard.

General dental practitioners were at present doing routine dental work for the sake of income, he said. A man who had been educated to university level should not have to do this. Ancillaries in New Zealand were doing good conservation work on children’s teeth, and this system should be extended to the adult community. “If this work were relegated to ancillaries, the general dental practitioner's status would be improved and his job would be more interesting,” said Professor Ballard. “It would enable a highlyqualified man to spend more time on more important things, such as diagnosis and planning of treatment.” In medicine, an opthalmlc surgeon did not fit glasses, nor did an orthopaedic surgeon fit surgical boots. Doctors did not have to take X-rays or conduct their own physiotherapy. A similar situation in dentistry should be established. Safeguards

To safeguard the public and the profession, dental ancillaries would have to practice under supervision, as

ancillaries in hospitals did. and under prescription, he said. The dental practitioner would specify what had to be done for a patient, and ancillaries would carry out the various parts of the treatment.

If routine treatment by ancillaries was extended to adults, as well as children, there might be some antagonism from dentists themselves. “They would feel that their bread and butter was being taken from their mouths," said Professor Ballard. But a professional man would justify a higher salary, since he was engaged in higher work. “It Would have a lot of repercussions in the longterm result, which would ultimately mean the provision of dental treatment at a higher standard and at lower cost than at present,” said Professor Ballard. Hospital’s Work The Eastman Dental Hospital is the centre of the Institute of Dental Surgery of the Post-graduate Medical Federation at London University. It is devoted entirely to postgraduate teaching. Its overseas students, who form slightly more than half the total numbers, come from all over the world. Professor Ballard said that shortage of space was a problem at the hospital, and finance for expansion was needed. Because of this the number of students who could be taken was restricted. In his own department 14 students were selected from a short list of 50, tq attend one-year courses.

Professor Ballard, with his wife, is on a world tour, and will spend 16 days in New Zealand. He will deliver lectures in Christchurch and Dunedin, and conduct a short course in Rotorua. Already he has visited Israel, India, Singapore, and Australia, and he will return to England through Canada and the United States. While on tour he is visiting former postgraduate students from the Eastman Dental Hospital.