"TO STAY THE ROT"

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 108, 3 November 1923, Page 13

"TO STAY THE ROT"

DENTAL NURSEHOOD

WORK ON CHILDREN'S TEETH

PREVENTION'S HOPE IS WITH THE YOUNG. . . . . '

An article recently published in the "Evening Post" on the dental scheme of the Dental Hygiene Division of the Health Department emphasised the fact that the prime purpose of constantly training an average of fifteen to thirty girls at the Dental Training Clinic, Wellington, to become dental nurses qualified to attend to themouths of children, is propagandist, and preventive. It happens that the trainees, under expert supervision, give free' treatment (including extractions and fillings, where required) to Wellington children, but tho purpose is not free treatment,' which in only incidental. When the trained dental nurse, having completed her course of two years at the Dental Training Clinic, goes to the town at which she is to be stationed—under a stipendiary contract with the Government, the minimum period of which is three years—she may again carry out operations as part of her preventive and propagandist ,missioru but she is not to be regarded as replacing the dentist, but merely as auxiliary to the dental service, and as preparing the way for ia among children-of tender years, among whom preventive* work may be expected to'bear in the future its finest fruits. : \PREPARING FOB DENTIST. As an illustration of the way, lin which the dental nurse can prepare -the way' for the dentist, it may be said that there is in operation a system under which the Dental Training Clinic Hands some of its patients on to the dental officer at the Wellington Public Hospital. • A commonly-used form, addressed by tho Dental Training Clinic to' the dental officer of the Hospital, reads :-iThe bearer, ................... bag .'receive*-/ some treatment here, but the work it beyond our range, and we recoramenff . him (or her) to your Department for further assistance. Again, the!following form, addre3sed"by the dental officer in charge of the Dental Training Clinic to the parent-of a child, that has received at the clinic preventive treatment, tells its own- story:— Dear Mrs ■•■•■:•••• ■•■••- haß-Just had 'allnecessary dental work completed. • Further treatment will be offered every six months while he (or she) continues to attend school, but only on tho condition that reasonable effort* are mads to keep tho teeth dean and tin mouth In good order. The means to ba taken to achieve this purpose, are: Careful attention to diet. ■ : Hard requiring mastication in preference to sloppy food. ...... Wholemeal bread in preference- to white Sufficient.'. vegetables, lightly, cooked; or raw, anch as lettuce or:radish. A piece of apple to finish each meal. The avoidance ". as. much as possible of sweets, sweet biscuits, and cakes. Three meals a day, with no milk or "pieces" • in between. . ' ■ ■■ ■ . The use of the toothbrush; with water, or salt and water, as tbe only dentifrice. Of course you will remember the need for fresh air, exercise, and sufficient sleep. If these simple suggestions are carried out very little further dental work will be necessary, and will derive lasting beneat to his (or her) general health and physique. - PROPAGANDIST PUBPOSE. The fact that the condition (reasonable efforts to keep the teeth dean and the mouth in good order) is emphasised in black type, and the whole t«xt of the note, show that the Dental Hygiene Division's prime purpose is preventive dental medicine, arid parental, responsibility therefor. The letter to the- parent docs not offer further treatment erery six months in the case of children \yhose parents ' 'travel on such free Beryica by neglecting the; "reasonable efforts" referred to. ...

The letter, it will be seen, is also, in' tabloid, an effective piece of hygienic propaganda. . ■■■■,-■ •-.'

. Tho dental nurses arc trained in tho same tendency. At the Dental Training Clinic parents may come to the chairside to learn whilo children are being attended to. The effort is to save.the child, who is father to the man. Parents must be taught how to see that their children's dental start in life is a fair. one. "~ """.'"'■■' '"'." ";, ":':'Z\ ;' As part of the training'of the dental nurses, thousands of Wellington child=\ ren are being treated free of charge at the Dental Training Clinic, but.; the Dental Hygiene Division maintains the preventive ideal, and takes ■ pains •; to prevent the growth of any idea that the consequences of parental neglect" of children's health and mouths will be (or can be) averted by free Government treatment. v- • - •'.-..