Improvement of Dental Hygiene in the High School, with Relation to Efficiency
- Author:
Wilfred L. Foster, M.D.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
That the work done in many schools to improve the condition of the pupils’ teeth does secure good results is well known, but how great an improvement can be or at any time has been secured has not been mathematically stated up to the present time, as far as I know. It is my purpose here to state as definitely as possible under the present circumstances the amount of improvement that has been obtained in one of the high schools of New York City. In this high school it has been customary for the last five or six years, in the physical training work, to base part of the pupils’ marks in personal hygiene on the condition of the teeth. If the pupils’ teeth needed filling or cleaning at the time he was examined his mark was reduced, but if the teeth were in good condition the full mark was given. In all cases where dental treatment was needed the matter was mentioned to the pupil at the time of the examination together with the fact that a bad condition of his teeth would lower his class standing.
Since an examination in personal hygiene is part of the physical training course affecting all the students of the school every ten weeks, it can readily be seen that a considerable improvement might be obtained by drawing the students’ attention to the condition of their teeth. In addition to this ten-weekly test, short talks are given on care of teeth in the first term and in the physical examination of each student each year the number of decayed teeth is recorded and the records kept.
From these card records we find that there is a total improvement of Jj.1 per cent during the course; that is, that the fourth year students show an improvement of 41 per cent over the entering students with respect to the condition of their teeth, basing the calculation on the number of decayed teeth.
Especially notable is the improvement of the group of boys whose teeth were all in good condition; that is, whose teeth showed no unfilled areas of decay. In the entering class, the percentage of pupils who had no decayed teeth was found to be 37.9 per cent, but in the fourth year class the percentage of pupils who had no decayed teeth was G3.3 per cent?an improvement of 25.4 per cent in this group. Improvement was noted also in the other groups of these classifications, as one may easily see by glancing over the accompanying tables.
TABLE I. No. No. of De- Average No. to each Examined cayed Teeth, boy (theoretical) First Term Boys 507 693 1.3668 Seventh and Eighth Term Boys 126 101 .8015 Average improvement per boy 5653 Percentage of improvement of seventh and eighth term boys .5653 -1.50 41% or 1.3668 Graphic Representation of Average Number of Decayed Teeth of A?1st term boys B?7th and 8th term boys C?Improvement table II. Percentage Table showing the Condition of the Teeth of Students of Different Grades of the High School. 1st Term Boys with teeth showing no unfilled areas of decay Number of Boys showing One cavity Two cavities Three cavities Four cavities Five (or more cavities) Total No. examined, 2069 37.9 2d Term 49.1 23.3: 17.6 17.91 14.6 ‘I 10.0 6.9 4.0 100.0 507 10.5 5.4 2.8 100.0 460 3d Term 4 th Term 50.8 19.5 10.9 9.7 3.4 5.7 100.0 348 52.7 17.6 15.5 5.7 6.5 2.0 100.0 245 5th Term 6 th Term 50.8 20.1 13.1 8.2 3.3 4.5 100.0 244 61.9 15.1 7.9 7.2 4.3 3.6 100.0 139 7th and 8th 60.3 20.7 7.9 4.8 2.3 4.0 100.0 126
TABLE III. First Term Boys 7th and 8th Term Boys Number with no decayed teeth 192 Number with one decayed tooth 118 Number with two decayed teeth 91 Number with three decayed teeth 51 Number with four decayed teeth 35 Number with five or more decayed teeth. 20 Per cent. 37.9 23.3 17.7 10.0 6.9 4.0 76 26 10 6 3 5 Per cent 60.3 20.7 7.9 4.8 2.3 40.0 Per cent Improvement 25.4 2.6 9.6 5.2 4.6 0.0 507 | 100.0 126 100.0
In spite of the work done for the betterment of personal hygiene in the schools, it is necessary to take into account that there are other factors working at the same time. The condition of an individual’s teeth may be to a fair extent an index of his home surroundings and his physical fitness. For example, the boy who is poorly fed and poorly clothed is less apt to have teeth in good condition than the boy who comes from a well-to-do family. In order to throw light upon this matter, the records of the condition of the teeth of boys who passed every subject every term were brought together, excluding the 7th and 8th terms. These boys, according to their academic standing, may be considered the more efficient pupils. A comparison of these more efficient boys with the entering class shows a condition of teeth that is much better than the first term boys, as the table below indicates:
Boys Passing in All Subjects Per cent. Number showing no decayed teeth 218 50.6 ” ” one decayed tooth 86 20.0 ” two decayed teeth 58 13.5 ” ” three decayed teeth 35 8.1 ” ” four decayed teeth 20 4.6 ” ” five or more decayed teeth 14 3.2 431 100.0 The more efficient boy then keeps his teeth in better condition than the average first term boy. The high school boy who reaches the fourth year and who by his survival has thus proven his efficiency (for high school “mortality” is very high), bears out the same idea that the more efficient individual IMPROVEMENT OF DENTAL HYGIENE 233 is, on the average, in better condition with respect to his personal hygiene.
Whether the 41 per cent which was noted in the case of the fourth year pupils, is due entirely to the hygiene work of the school or is due partly to other factors which are indices of home surroundings or physical fitness, it is none the less desirable when we realize that a better hygienic condition is characteristic of the efficient individual, and that it is a necessary part of the armor of success. Even from the standpoint of efficiency, therefore, we are justified in these efforts we are making for better personal hygiene; and as soon as we can convince parents that the success of the children depends to a very considerable degree upon their better hygienic condition, just so soon can we hope to improve more easily the personal hygiene of our pupils. GfaWc Representation of clumber of Decayed Teefh
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