THE STATE’S NEGLECT OF DENTISTRY.

The machinery of the State is so vast that it may well be imperfect here and there. It frequently falls to the lot of individuals to point out how the tide of progress has left details in a condition of inefficiency. We note a recent instance of this. In August last, at the annual meeting of the British Dental Association, Mr George Cunningham, one of its members, drew attention to the backwardness of the practice of dentistry in the various departments of the State. The substance of his case amounted to this: In the army and navy, unskilled practitioners wielded uncouth and inefficient instruments in following antiquated and unscientific methods; while the police force and the employees of the India and Post offices by no means derived the full advantages of this department of medical science. Mr Cunningham was bold enough to include the inmates of prisons among those whose interests were neglected; and of course the principle of the humane treatment of criminals is already conceded in the appointment of jail chaplains and surgeons. We need not enter here into the voluminous details with which Mr Cunningham substantiated his case. The broad conclusions he would seem to draw are these: that the medical practitioner employed by the State should possess a more thorough knowledge of dentistry; that, where necessary, the services of the completely trained and qualified dentist should be secured; and that full resort should be had to the remedial resources of dental science. Seeing the suffering caused by diseases of the teeth, and the subtle and intimate connection existing between dental and other maladies, we trust Mr Cunningham’s paper may receive the consideration it would seem to deserve.