Nature of Service Proposed
CONFIDENTIAL # 3
Government.
39
1
The evidence of dental health surveys by the
Medical and Health Department indicates that children do
not appear to receive the dental attention necessary
during the early part of their lives. In the absence of
skilled dental conservative treatment the standard of
dental health among children even inspite of the beneficial
effects of fluoridation of water is still low as is borne
out from experience of those who come to the notice of the
Government dental officers.
11.5
Proposals are made in this White Paper that steps be
taken to provide more dentists for general practice. But
to prevent dental decay becoming too firmly established in
young children a limited programme will be instituted to
provide a basic dental conservation service at primary
school level.
11.6
This scheme will provide participants with
regular examinations and simple conservative treatment,
including limited orthodontic treatment, but will not
include the provision of appliances. Fillings and
extractions would be included but the scheme would not
be designed to provide emergency treatment, which will
continue to be available from dentists in the Goverment
dental clinics where necessary.
11.7.
Experience elsewhere has shown that this service
can be carried out effectively by properly trained dental
7.
nurses provided they are suitably supervised by qualified
dentists. The use of dental nurses to provide routine
preventive dental service has been adopted and
proved successful for many years in other countries.
G.F. 323
CONFIDENTIAL
/11.8.
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