§ 36. Mr. Bairdasked the Minister of Health the number of applications made for conservative dental treatment and dental appliances, respectively, in the months of October, November and December, 1951, and during the corresponding months of 1952.
§ The Minister of Health (Mr. Iain Macleod)As the answer involves a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. BairdWould the Minister tell me whether the tendency has been upward or downward during those months?
§ Mr. MacleodSo far as conservative dental treatment is concerned, the figures in those three months are practically stationary. There is a drop in dental appliances.
§ Following are the figures:
| 1951 | 1952 | |||||
| October (5 weeks) | November (4 weeks) | December (4 weeks) | October (5 weeks) | November (4 weeks) | December (4 weeks) | |
| Conservative dental treatment | ||||||
| Courses of treatment not requir-ing prior approval of the Dental Estimates Board for which claim for payment has been submitted (Note 1) | 495,000 | 363,000 | 388,000 | 496,000 | 414,000 | 333,000 |
| Dental appliances | ||||||
| Applications to the Denta Estimates Board for prior approval to treatment and the provision of appliances (Note 2) | 172,000 | 124,000 | 92,000 | 151,000 | 121,000 | 74,000 |
| 1. No record of applications for conservative treatment is kept since such courses of treatment do not require prior approval. These courses are normally completed within a few weeks of commencement and the statistics are based on the receipt of claims for payment. | ||||||
| 2. Approximately 90 per cent. of the courses requiring prior approval relate to the provision of dental appliances. |