DENTAL INSPECTION 



cent had diseased teeth. An extensive investigation in Prussia* 

 showed that among almost 20,000 children in 19 cities, 95 per cent 

 were afflicted with dental caries. Dr. Henief examined school 

 children in Norway and found 97 per cent with decayed teeth. 

 Investigations conducted in Dunfermline, Scotland,}: showed that 

 96 per cent of the children needed dental attention. Among 

 2,200 pupils in the public schools not a single child was found who 

 had had dental care or whose teeth were filled or otherwise attended 

 to. In America conditions are little if any better than abroad. 



The serious significance of dental conditions existing among 

 school children in a typical American city may be appreciated by 

 studying the record of the examination of 447 school children 

 ranging in age from six to sixteen years in Elmira, New York. 

 These children were examined by local dentists in i9io. The 

 findings are given in Table 3 1 . 



TABLE 31. RESULTS OF DENTAL INSPECTION OF 447 CHILDREN, 

 AGES SIX TO SIXTEEN, ELMIRA, NEW YORK, 1910 



No. of children examined 447 



No. of children with teeth in perfect condition 22 



No. of cavities needing filling 2063 



No. of teeth and roots needing extraction 617 



No. of children needing teeth cleaned 425 



No. of children needing gums treated 18 



No. of children suffering with pus-discharging abscesses ... 15 



No. of children in need of surgical treatment for irregular teeth . 60 



No. of teeth prematurely lost by extraction 315 



No. of children with malocclusion 9 



No. of children using tooth brush daily (condition of mouths did not verify 



this claim) . 127 



No. of children who had been to a dentist (in most cases for extractions only) 100 



182 or 40 per cent of the children had fairly good masticating capacity. 



1 19 or 27 per cent of the children had three-fourths masticating capacity. 



106 or 24 per cent of the children had one-half masticating capacity. 

 38 or 8 per cent of the children had one-fourth masticating capacity. 

 2 children had no masticating capacity. 



* Investigation made by an association of dentists in the province of Schles- 

 wig-Holstein. Zeitschrift fur Schulgesundheitspflege, No. 7, 1900. Referred to 

 by W. H. Burnham, op. cit. 



t Dr. C. Henie (School physician in Hamar, Norway): Untersuchungen 

 iiber die Zahne der Volksschiiler zu Hamar in Norwegen. Zeitschrift fiir Schulge- 

 sundheitspflege, February, 1898, Vol. II, pp. 65-71. Referred toby W. H. Burn- 

 ham, op. cit. 



J Second Annual Report on the Medical Inspection of School Children in 

 Dunfermline, Scotland, 1907, pp. 12-14. 



Annual Report of Don C. Bliss, Superintendent of Schools, Elmira, N. Y. ; 

 1909-10, p. 30 ff. 



