G U E S T E D I T O R I A L

W i l l i a m R, Davis

"CUM GRAB6 SALIS"

A w r i t e r i n t h e May issue of Oental Heal th t a t ion 9

"For t h e country as a whole, the National c i l reveals t h a t

makes t h e fo l lowing quo-

Hygiene Coun-

50 p e r cent of our c h i l d r e n have den ta l decay a t age 2..

80 p e r cent of our ch i ld ren have d e n t a l decay a t age 3.

90 p e r cent of our c h i l d r e n have den ta l decay a t age 4.

96 p e r cent of our c h i l d r e n have den ta l decay a t age 5,

25 p e r cen t of our ch i ld ren a r e found t o be d e n t a l c r i p p l e s a t age 5.

86 per cent of our c h i l d r e n need d e n t a l t h r e e times a year."

care

I ve ry muah doubt t h e accuracy of those f igu res . I n f a c t , I ques t ion i f any f i g u r e s a r e a v a i l a b l e from any source which permit anyth ing more t h a n a rough guess concerning aversge d e n t a l condi t ions among preschool c h i l d r e n f o r t he country as a whole.''

t1

I checked w i t h ou r S t a t e Depar tmnt of Heal th and ou r S t a t e L ib ra ry and could f i n d no Nat ional Hygiene Council on any l i s t of n a t i o n a l organiza t ions . There is a National Heal th Council l i s t e d w i t h the same address as the execu- t i v e o f f i c e of t h e American Publ ic Heal th Assocint ion. A l e t t e r t o D r . Reginald %. A t w u t G r , execut ive s e c r e t a r y of t h e American Publ ic Heal th Associ- s.tion, brought t h e following reply8

11 I share your f e c l i n g regfirding t h e quo ta t ion from Den- t a l Heal th and was s t a r t l e d t o f i n d t h a t anyone would quote f i g u r e s l i k e t h i s purpor t ing t o cover t h e count ry as 8 whole.

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"This c e r t a i n l y cannot bo charged back t o t h e Wational Heal th Council which does not pub l i sh f i g u r e s of t h i s kind. I happen t o be s e c r e t a r y of t h e Council and have just checked with t h e Council Library here i n t h e build- ing whoro we t r y t o keep re ferences i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e

E '1 I T 0 R I A L

. of a l l such-mat te rs , We have no i n d e r €o r t h e Nat iona l Hygiene Council."

S t a t i s t i c i a n s have c e r t a i n formulae which a r e used t o t e s t t h e accuracy of sampling s u r v e p before t h e y w i l l accept them as v a l i d f o r a group as a whole. Dental surveys of l a r g e and r ep resen tn t ive numbers of presohool ch i l - dren a r c d i f f i c u l t t o ge t , I know of only a f e w , of very l i m i t e d groups, and these could not by m y s t r e t c h of t he imaginat ion be aonsidered t y p i c a l o f a l l r ace , economic, and geographic groups i n thc whole country,

While we do have ti number of surveys o f school a h i l d r a n , probably no of' t h e s e ngcs could be considered acoura te f o r f i g u r e s of d e n t a l aondi t ions

tho count ry as IL whole wi thout some qua l i fy ing s t n t e m n t s .

The Bureau of Pub l i c Health Den t i s t ry of the Michigan Depar tmnt of Heal th l as t year mado a very thorough survey from kin- dergar ton through h igh school i n f i v e w e l l s e l e c t e d areas o f t h e s ta te , and a s senb l ing of t h e dc.ta i s j u s t being completed. This survey was a a r r i e d out w i t h t h e a s s i s t a n c e of t h e S t a t i s t i c n l Oivision of the School of Pub l i c Heal th , U n i v s r s i t y of Miahigan, f o r t h e areas surveyed and probably a f a i r index f o r the s t a t e as R whole.

of d e n t a l condi t ions

We b e l i e v e t h i s survey is aacurn te

Not enough preschool ch i ld ren were examined i n t h i s survey t o make it f o r f i v o - p a r - o l d s which we

They shw 79.3 f 2.2 p e r cent* of five-year-old8 from t h a t quoted by t h e

I a l s o ques t ion t h e s ta tement t h a t "86 p e r cent of our ch i ld ren need den ta l care t h r e e t imes a year." I would l i k e to know t h e a u t h o r i t y f o r t h a t stntement.

s t a t i s t i c a l l y acceptab le , b u t we do have f i g u r p s t h i n k reasonably accurate . wi th den ta l decay, which is a a u i t e d i f f e r e n t f i g u r e "National Hygiene Council,"

When f i g u r e s a re quoted, I think t h e bns i s upon which t h e y are made should be giver! clang wi th any qucilifying phrases. F igures quoted wi thout qua l i fy ing phrnses as w e l l RS sources of t h o data a r e wor th less t o profes- s i o n a l workers and f u l l of misinformation f o r t h e genora l publ ic .

* Miohigcn Depc;rtment of 'Hc2lth, , Burenu of Pub l i c H o d t h Dentistry. Unpub- l i shed study, "3sntR1 Needs of 7,373 lhiichigan Children."

Ed i to r ' s Noter Since t h i s e d i t o r i a l was w r i t t e n . it was s e n t t o Mr. R.G. . . -

Bishop, e d i t o r - o f Oental Health. He s ta tes t h a i he r e g r e t s very muoh the inaccurac ies i n t h e a r t i a l e quoted and will publ i sh a o o r r e c t i o n i n the next i s s u e of Dental Health,