DENTAL REFORM

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 93, 22 April 1919, Page 8

DENTAL REFORM

SOME EVILS INDICATED

"HOPELESS NEGLECT"

(FROM, OUR OTf N CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 4th March. SOME STARTLING FIGURES.

Mr. F. D. Acland, M.P., was chairman of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the operation of the Dentists Act. Drastic amendments are urged in the report- just issued, tho Committee condemning the present unsatisfactory and. anomalous system under which unregistered men are freely allowed to practise—a state of things that does not exist in New Zealand. One result is that there is a serious .shortage of registered and fully-qualified practitioners, while the dearth of facilities for propsr treatment is having disastrous effects on the health ■of large sections of the population.

It is the opinion of the Committee that • the Stats cannot afford to allow the health of the workers of the nation to be.' continuously undermined, by dental neglect, and that steps should be taken at once to recognise dentistry as one of the chief means—if not the chief—for preventing ill-health. There should be means for enlightening the public as to the need for conservative treatment of diseased teeth. RESULTS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. The Committee consider that the evil* due to practice by unqualified persons are largely responsible for: Lowering the social status and public esteem of the dental profession. A great shortage of registered dentists owing to the unattractiveness of the profession. Inability by the general public to distinguish between a registered and unregistered practitioner. The dental treatment of the publio being largely in the hands of uneducated, untrained, and unskilled persons. Grave personal injury owing to lack of skill and of technical knowledge. Extractions of sound and only slightly decayed teeth. Application of artificial'teeth over decayed stamps and into septic mouths. The existence in ,th.c public mind of the belief that there is no advantage in preserving the natural teeth, and that the correct thing is to let these decay, and when trouble arises have all the teeth out and substitute a plate of false' ones.

Among causes of the shortage of registered dentists are put the present length of the minimum course of instruction and training for dental students and tho expense of training at a dental school, while the present unsatisfactory state_ of the law allows the practice of dentistry by those who have not qualified by a prescribed course of instruction, training, and examination. SOME SUGGESTIONS . .' It is urged that the law should be altered so as to secure the prohibition of dental practice by persons not registered ; a reduction in the minimum time required to obtain' qualification; provision of dental treatment for expectant mothers and children under the age of five; the completion as rapidly as- practicable of an adequate system of school dental treatment ; establishment of a public dental service; scholarships for dental mechanics; increased grants .to dental schools. THE BLACKSMITH PRACTITIONER. While no estimate can be given of'the total number of unregistered practitioners, the committee are sure that it is much greater than that of the registered. The evidence is conclusive that it is the least reputable section of unregistered dental practice that has increased most and tends to increase. The evidence also indicates that dental practice is carried on by unregistered persons of widely varying grades of social standing, education, and training, ranging from the few fully trained and qualified practitioners who have refrained from registering, the graduate from a dental college or a university in the United States, and the old-standing experienced unregistered practitioner, to the insurance or sewingmachine canvasser, the butcher, and the blacksmith. Gross abuses are considered to have beeu associated with the practice ■of dentistry by incorporated companies, and they recommend that all such be controlled, all the operating and managing staff being required to be registered dentists, and special provision being made to meet the case of existing companies. Companies practising dentistry should not carry on any other business or 'trade. A CATALOGUE OF EVIL CONSE- ' QUENCES. Dealing with the evils arising from dental practice by unregistered practitioners, the committee point out that under the existing law, any person, however ignorant, unskilled, untrained, can practise dentistry and inform the public by advertisement and otherwise that he practises dentistry. The only protection the public has is an action for. damages in case of injury, or the fear of a possible prosecution for manslaughter in the case of death. From a list of injuries suffered by patients of such practitioners the British Dental Association drew the following inferences—among others:

Injuries to mouth and jaws owing to unskilful operations; teeth frequently broken, cut, or snapped off owing to lack of knowledge and skill; frequency of cocaine poisoning; the injection of cocaine and other dangerous drugs into the gums gives rise to cases of poisoning owing to instruments not being properly sterilised; sound teeth frequently are needlessly extracted; large profrts are made by unqualified practice, thus inducing a constant flow of recruits to its ranks. "HOPELESS NEGLECT." The report says that evidence before the committee as to the condition of the teeth of the masses of the people presents a picture of almost hopeless neglect, except in so far as it is relieved by dental work aided by grants from the Board of Education and the Local Government Board. The chief medical officer of the Board of Education estimates that out of 6,000,000 children on the registers of elementary schools in England and Wales not less than half are in need of dental treatment, and not leas than 500,000 urgently so. In many areas recent figures have shown that as many as 80 per cent, of children aged 6-8 require treatment. In some areas it is over 90 per cent., as m the West Riding of Yorkshire. In London 81 per cent, ate in need of treatment.