A restricted service is also provided for poor people in the urban and rural areas. Special clinics are held for these members of the public; twice a week in both Hong Kong and Kowloon and once a month in Tai Po, Yuen Long, Cheung Chau and Taj (. At these special clinics treatment is directed solely towards the relief of pain and consists largely of extractions.
245. During the year, 31,014 teeth were extracted and 12,729 teeth filled or crowned.
The School Dental Service.
246. With no increase in the professional staff during the year, it was inevitable that the six dental surgeons employed should be so swamped with work as to find it impossible to do more than scratch at the problem presented by a population of over 250,000 school children, even though only about 10,000 of them participated in the scheme during the year. It has proved necessary to limit the numbers of new entries to the scheme until future policy has been decided.
247. The dental surgeons have worked on the principle of relieving suffering as a first priority, leaving conservative treat- ment to take a second place. In spite of this, 11,851 teeth were filled as against 23,787 extracted. Admittedly this is a very unsatisfactory ratio, but it has been unavoidable and is consider. ably better than in 1955.
Voluntary Dental Services.
248. Welfare organizations operated a number of dental clinics either for their own members or for the poor in their respective districts. The Hong Kong Dental Society continued to staff 3 free evening clinics per week in Hong Kong and one in Kowloon, together with a fortnightly clinic at the Hong Kong Anti-Tuberculosis Association's Ruttonjee Sanatorium). Every Sunday the St. John Ambulance Association and Brigade des patched a squad, which included a dentist, to the more remote areas in the New Territories, bringing free treatment to poor persons unable otherwise to obtain it.
Government Dental Scholarships.
249. The Dental scholarship scheme began in 1954 in order to ensure that, in the absence of a dental school in Hong Kong, a sufficient number of well qualified dental surgeons will be available in the Colony to replace the natural losses suffered by
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Dentists' Register. In September 1956 6 students were sent to Singapore to take up their studies in the Dental School of the University of Malaya, making 15 in all. Owing to changes in the entry requirements of the University of Malaya it has been decided to send future students to Australia. The first group of 5 students departed for Melbourne In March 1957 and will spend 5 years there on a degree course in dental surgery,
Control of Dental Practice.
260. Two dental inspectors were employed on duties in con- nexion with the control and supervision of private dental practice in the Colony. They regularly inspected premises used. or proposed to be used, by dentists.
251. There were no cases of illegal dental practice during the year.
Out-Patient Services.
262. By far the greatest volume of medical work done in the Colony is handled by the out-patient centres, a large proportion of which are operated by the Medical Department. These centres consist of (a) three major general polyclinics, two on the Island and one in Kowloon, (b) one specialist polyclinic in Wanchai for chest diseases, physiotherapy and dentistry, (c) one large chest diseases clinic in Kowloon, (d) twenty-two smaller dispensaries, ten in the urban areas and twelve in the New Territories. In addition, travelling dispensaries pay weekly visits either by road or by sea to various isolated areas.
253. Many of the smaller dispensaries and rural centres are conducted in adapted premises quite unsuitable for the purpose and they are gradually being replaced with properly designed modern clinics. None were so replaced during the past year, but work has been in progress on two and plans have been approved for some others. In all, it is hoped that five will be completed during 1957, three of these being completely new ventures.
264. Details of the work carried out in the various clinics will be found at Appendices 9, 10, 11 and 12.
The Pathological Service.
255. The Government pathology service for the Colony comprises work carried out in the Pathological Institute on the
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