REPLY TO CRITICISM.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18583, 9 December 1920, Page 6

REPLY TO CRITICISM.

government l school dentil SERVICE. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. The following statement by the Hon C. J. Parr, Minister of Education and Minister of Public Health, has been forwarded to the “ Lyttelton Times ” for publication:—

In view of the statements appearing itt the daily Press in criticism of the Government scheme for the dental treatment of school children I feel it my duty again to deny the charge that the Government intends to employ partially trained women in treating children of tho primer classes of the public schools. Nothing could have been 7 more wilfully conceived than tins attempt to warp the judgment of the public in reference to the scheme, and 1 feel bound to say that the unfair attitude of those opposed to the measure has been largely guided by the special pleading of Professor Pickerill of the Dental School, Dunedin, who has employed every means in his power to lead the parents of the children and the public generally to believe that I am the advocate of inefficiency in connection with the dental treatment or school children.

The Government • proposals were placed before a representative meeting of the Executive of tho New Zealand Dental. Association At this meeting, at which Professor Pickerill was present by invitation, he was given' every opportunity to state his views, but the assembled delegate* decided in favour of the Department’s scheme by 16 votes to 7. After the mooting Professor Piokerill gave me his unsolicited promise that he would do everythin" m his power to further the success of the scheme. The public: may judge in what manner he has kept this ptoirnSe. In the words of the late ActingDirector of the Dental School: “What now development then has come forward to cause' Dr Pickerill to change his indicated attitude P Why has be waited several months, allowed Mr Hunter to develop his plans, and then made a. violent attack on a. scheme which he had given his word not to oppose P The new fact, the announcement of which synchronised with Dr PiokeriJPs Attack is that these dental nurses are to be trained by a supervisor irt Wellington and consequently will not bo under his control.’ 1

Tho objections raised by Professor Pickerill in his arguments against tho scheme are as follows!

1. That it is the intention of the Government to employ partiallytrained women who will give inefficient service. 2. That in treating primer classes the Government is neglecting the more advanced dental trouble amongst the senior pupils. 8. That no provision is made for the treatment of children in country schools. 4. That the principle of employing dental nurses for tho carrying out or simple operations has been vetoed in Great Britain. 5. That the Government in failing to Wait Until he has turned ’ otic sufficient numbers of qualified dentists from the school, is neglecting to provide tho best service in the interests of the public.

With regard to the first point Professor Pickerill knows bettor than anyone in New . Zealand that the women who will ultimately be employed will, as the result of their intensive training, be infinitely better qualified to carry out simple dental operations than the graduate just qualified from the Dental School. They will receive An intensive training in their special branch which it is quite impossible to give the usual graduate; and that this fact is so is borne out by a statement recently made by a practising dentist P-ho graduated from the Dental School that, from his own experience, he is convinced that after a two years* course devoted- entirely to simple fillings and extractions the dental nurses will be much better qualified to perform these operations than he himself was at the end of his four years' course at the University. These women will not be partially trained, they will be fully qualified and expert n the particular branches in whioh they will be employed, and in this connection it is pointed out that to train these Women i n other branches of dentistry which would not be utilised would be an economic waste. For instance, of what use would it he to train women to do oral surgery proper, Mich as treatment of dentigerous and other cysts, impacted teeth, cleft palate, etc , advanced operative treatment as geld fillings and inlays, crown and bridge 7™**. the hiaking of artificial teeth. The employment of these specially trained nurses will allow the qualified dentists in the Service to devote their higher skill and. knowledge to the inoro difficult branches of tho work, although in school dentistry much of this skill cannot ho utilised." Professor Pickerill’s statement that tho effort* of the Deoartment should he concentrated on eliminating thk advanced dental trouble of the senior ramils is. in view of the conditions in this country, an amazing indiscretion, and I could not recommend to the Densrtment such an illogical proprvntion. Tire scheme must, make a heoinning and all effort must, ho so expended that th« cumulative effect of Die treetmerit will lie directed towards the earliest control of the school dental problem. "Whioh is the most common soil so attitude to adopt? To attempt the enormous amo'int ef treatment for the senior tmnilo with the necessarily restricted facilities at hand and rO qllow the present primers tc ernerieneo the unfortunate o-mdltions already reached by those now in the higher standards, or to correct the dental defects of the nunils in the lower standards and following these Up to pohipyn definite ard benefiejn] resnlts with all minds in all standards by the time the children first to receive treatment finish thmr State sbhool education? My experience of the last thirty years in dentistry and dental ■organisation goes for nought if I* am not right- in my conviction that the lattor ; s the onlv logical course to pursue. older children will not he any worse off. There fft still the private practitioner and thp dental service connected with the public hospitals, and in this direction I am using my influence to have such service extended whett qualified dentists are available.

The assertion that no provision is made for the treatment of the children in the country schools is incorrect, and a grossly unfair attack upon the Scheme, for Professor Piekerill has from the first been perfectly well aware of tbe Department’s intention to give treatment in country districts by means,of dental ambulances, a, number c*f which are already fully equipped for the purpose. The fourth point, with reference to the employment of women in Great Untain, indicates that Professor Piekerill has not hesitated to twist, action and incidents to suit, his purpose in condemning the. scheme. I have an intimate knowledge of the conditions reigning in Great Britain tming an honorary member of the British School Dentists Society, and appreciate the magnitude of the problem of giving dental treatment to six million school children, and 1 unhesitatingly state that the objections in Great Britain to the employment of women for this purpose have been bßsed upon the proposal that untrained women should . be > employed.. With this objection t heartily concur ; but will nnypne with even the most elementary knowledge of 6tlr proposals maintain that the two eases are parallel in their application to school dentistry. On tho one hand there is the proposal rightly vetoed by . those in UUthontv to employ untrained women and on the nther' hand the intention of the New 'Zealand Government to mftke Ufib of tlie services of women after an intensive course of training over a. period of tWo vears in the sneeial branch for Which tlipv will bo employed. The fifth attd final objection, vm. that the Government should watt until

the Dental School furnishes echoed dentists, is one nearest the heart of tike Director of the Dental School. This objection has an intimate bearing upon the output of his institution thus proving Professor Pickerill to be a very much interested party in connection with the Government’s intentions. It is perfectly plain that the employment of graduates only would greatly increase the emoluments of . the school and incidentally the prestige of the director as by a substantial increase .in the number of dental bursaries the number of students would be largely augmented and Professor. Pickerill would have tbe comforting knowledge that all graduates of the school over and above the number that the country could absorb year by year would be employed by the Government. This would be a very satisfactory state of things from hid point of view, but there are objections to such a Course. “* Apart from the urgency of coping with the problem with the least possibe delay the restriction of the field of operations for some considerable time to como wouM preclude graduates so employed front the practice of many other branches of the profession, in which they had been trained. Again it would be possible to retain dental bursaries in the Government service for a short time only, for although to women this work would prove interesting, no man worth his salt would he content indefinitely to apply his University training largely to mere simple operations. Thus the service would be in a state of oontmuaJl change and the Departmental organisation indescribably handicapped. Further, it is widely "admitted that the average woman is very milch more successful in the handling of small children than the avorage man and given a number of fully trained women I am perfectly confident that working under the supervision of qualified dentists as they' will be, a speedier and better service will be rendered than by any other means, particularly so when the confor the selection of these women are pointed out, some of which are A* follows: Applicants must be over 20 year* of age; preference will be given to those between the ages of 25 and 35. Preference will be given to applicants who are registered, trained .nurses, Suecesefm applicants will be accepted' for a probationary period of two months. Such careful selection is not demanded in tlie case of students entering the medical and dental professions. The proposals abojit to be put into force by the Government are the result of experience and much thought, and I wish to state with all the emphasis at my command that in New Zealand in my opinion they einbody the one and only rational method of dealing with Undoubtedly one of the greatest problems, with which, to-day, the governments of most civilised countries are faced.

[Pea Press AsaoouttOH.'j WANGANUI, December 8. The following motion waa oarried at the executive of the Wanganui branch of the Dental Association: —“ The-Min-ister of Health and Education is entirely wrong in publishing a statement that opposition to the scheme of employing dental nurses is dwindling. He must know by the Press that Wellington, "Wanganui, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, .Christchurch, Dunodinand Southland oppose it. Surely this proves that opposition is not oonuned to Dunedin., ana the Auckland arid Wanganui branches have urged the Executive Council of the New Zealand Dental Association to summon an extraordinary meeting so that individual members can express opinions.”