ENG-1956 — Page 172

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

Service examines and treats participant children in Govern- ment, subsidiary and private schools.

Visits by patients to dental clinics totalled 78,223 during the year, and were divided between the various classes as follows:

Government Officers

Government Dependants

General Public

School Children

15,499

12,538

17,190

32,996

In all 24,000 permanent and 31,476 deciduous teeth were extracted, 20,273 permanent and 3,808 deciduous teeth were filled or crowned, and 1,123 dentures and special prosthetic appliances were fitted in General and School Dental Clinics.

One student dental nurse was sent to the Dental Nurse Training School in Penang for two years and four months training. On her return in 1957 she will be employed in the School Dental Service.

During the year the Government entered into an agreement with an approved panel of private dentists under which, in order to relieve the pressure on the Government dental clinics, Government servants can apply to these private practitioners for dental treatment against reimbursement by Government of half the agreed scale of fees.

The Government Dental Scholarship scheme was instituted in 1954 to provide a steady source of supply of qualified dental surgeons for the Colony. Students spend one year at Hong Kong University and four years at the Dental School of the University of Malaya in Singapore. 5 students began their studies during 1956, making a total of 17 in receipt of Government dental scholarships.

Several dental clinics are operated by welfare organizations for the poor; and many dentists gave their services free of charge, particularly at the evening clinics at the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society's Centres in Hong Kong and Kow-