Dental Health in Britain

Abstract

THE Interim Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Dentistry (Cmd. 6565. H.M. Stationery Office, 1944) records this Committee's opinion that the dental health of Britain is bad and that its effect upon general health is also bad. The dental profession itself cannot be blamed for this. Its ideals are high. They see in dentistry, not merely attention to teeth, but also that basic relation between dental disease and general ill-health which is the basis of the scheme of dental education outlined by C. Bowdler Henry (Lancet, 26, Jan. 6, 1945), who advocates a basic medical education for dental students and also the education of stomatologists who would act as consultants to dentists and would study dental problems in relation to other diseases and tp the general biology of man. But the best dental profession in the world cannot operate in a vacuum; it must have the respect and co-operation of the people whom it seeks to serve; and the facts recorded in this report show that the British people not only do not take full advantage of the public dental services which now exist, but also they do not appreciate the effects of dental disease upon their general health.