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The New Zealand Dental Services
Appendix IV — SOME STATISTICS
Appendix IV
SOME STATISTICS
A considerable number of statistics are given in the text of the history and it is not proposed to repeat them here. There are some, however, which may be conveniently grouped to give some idea of the condition of the men of the Armed Forces and the amount of work done for them by the New Zealand Dental Corps. They are approximate only as complete accuracy of recording is not possible under every condition of warfare. Suffice it to say that they are sufficiently realistic as a basis for study and errors would be of omission rather than exaggeration.
Dental Condition of Expeditionary Force Troops on Mobilisation
These figures are the result of an examination of the Second and Third Echelons and the 4th, 5th and 6th Reinforcements at Trentham Mobilisation Camp, and would be substantially the same as the figures for the other mobilisation camps.
| Number examined | 15,005 |
| Number requiring treatment | 11,427 (76·1 per cent) |
| Artificial dentures required | 4,785 (41·8 per cent) |
| Fillings required per man | 3·91 |
| Extractions required per man | 1·1 |
Dental Condition of Territorial Force
| Number examined | 11,215 |
| Number requiring treatment | 9,322 (83·12 per cent) |
| Artificial dentures required | 1,780 (19·09 per cent) |
| Fillings required per man | 5·04 |
| Extractions required per man | 1·26 |
A comparison of these two sets of figures points to the younger age of the Territorial group, in which fewer wearers of artificial dentures would be found, and consequently fewer fit mouths on examination with more filling work needed to achieve dental fitness.
Condition of 6th Reinforcements on Completion of Treatment
| Per cent | |
| Dentally fit through conservative treatment | 35 |
| *Wearing artificial dentures | 65 |
Comparison between Navy, Army and Air Force in New Zealand
| Navy | Army | Air Force | |
| Requiring treatment | 80·9 per cent | 79·6 per cent | 85 per cent |
| Fillings required per man | 2·76 | 4·11 | 3·39 |
| Extractions required per man | 0·5 | 1·31 | 0·7 |
| *Artificial dentures required | 10·15 per cent | 23·52 per cent | 12·1 per cent |
These figures are the result of striking an average from a large number of reports.
* Exclusive of remodels and repairs.
Volume of Work carried out by the New Zealand Dental Corps
| Fillings | 1,340,117 |
| Extractions | 367,470 |
| Prophylactic treatments | 165,333 |
| Full dentures | 46,869 |
| Partial dentures | 19,849 |
| Dentures remodelled | 54,081 |
| Dentures repaired | 76,779 |
The total population of New Zealand at the end of the war was approximately 1,750,000. During the whole of the war 215 dentists were mobilised for service with the Armed Forces for varying periods, but at no time were all these serving together as executive officers. It took three years for the Corps to reach peak strength, after which there was a gradual retrenchment. Taking these facts into account, the volume of work is formidable.
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