DENTAL TREATMENT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 212, 21 August 1934, Page 4

DENTAL TREATMENT

Injustice to Necessitous Classes A PROBLEM FOR SOLUTION (By Telegraph—Preu Association.l AUCKLAND, Aug. 21Ovci 80 dentists from all parts of New Zealand are attending the 26th annual conference of the Dental Association which, after executive business yesterday, was formally opened to-day by the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison In the course ol his presidential address, Dr. K. C. Morpeth, of Welling, ton, said the problem (hat must be grappled with in the near future was that oi the care of the teeth of children whose parents were unable to pay the usual ices. Most dentists unostentatiously did a fair amount of such work, but the problem called lor some concerted action. The State dental service did not solve the problem. It was a fact that the children of many indigent people were placed m the waiting list tor six or tweße months before they received treatment. One reason lor the delay was that children attending secondary schools and children of well-to-do people attend'd the state service. That was not tinfault of the officers of the service, but unfortunately they were not able to refuse to attend to children of such people , “1 contend,” he said, “that the government should legislate to prevent this injustice to the necessitous classes, and 1 cannot understand why *» lne of the so-called humanitarians in i’e lininent do not take steps to remedy this improper state of affairs. ’