MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 



dental attention for domestic servants receiving the benefits of 

 compulsory industrial insurance. It was found that the force and 

 equipment were so ample that other work could be undertaken 

 and the clinic arranged to treat 40 school children per day. Its 

 support is guaranteed by a municipal appropriation of $2,000 per 

 year for the three years 1911-14. The children treated are 

 referred to the clinic by the school physicians. 



In all, some 78 German cities and towns give some kind of 

 dental treatment to school children. Of these 78 localities, 70 

 are cities of more than 10,000 population. The fact that the 

 remaining eight cities have populations of less than 10,000 indi- 

 cates that in Germany they have begun to realize that dental 

 inspection, like medical inspection, is no less important in the small 

 towns and rural districts than it is in the great centers of popula- 

 tion. In about 30 localities the authorities have come to regard 

 dental treatment as a necessary accompaniment of education 

 and have made it free and universal. In twelve localities a more 

 conservative course is followed and free treatment is furnished poor 

 children only. A still more conservative attitude is represented 

 by the course followed in 26 cities where the parents make 

 small annual payments for the treatment furnished their children. 

 These annual contributions vary in amount from 12 to 50 cents 

 per child. 



Of the 78 school dental clinics in the Empire 38 are municipal, 

 three are attached to universities, three are in private hands, and 

 the remaining 34 are conducted by dentists who give part-time 

 service. The clinics vary in size from small ones of one or two 

 rooms to those in Strassburg and Hamburg containing 10 and 12 

 rooms respectively. 



There are three general plans of administration. In the 

 first the dental clinic is maintained by the school authorities as 

 an integral part of the educational system. In the second the 

 clinics are supported by means of municipal grants to local dental 

 associations. In the third, commonly adopted in smaller com- 

 munities, arrangements are made with private dentists whereby 

 school children needing treatment are sent to them on certain 

 specified days. 



The dental clinic has passed the experimental stage in 



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