An Act to Create a Board of Dental Hygiene for the Purpose of Establishing and Maintaining Free Dental Clinics for Children Matriculated in Public and Private Schools of Primary Instruction in the Philippine Islands, and for Other Purposes

February 5, 1915

ACT NO. 2490

AN ACT TO CREATE A BOARD OF DENTAL HYGIENE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING FREE DENTAL CLINICS FOR CHILDREN MATRICULATED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF PRIMARY INSTRUCTION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. Board of Dental Hygiene; Appointment; Duties; Meetings. — The Secretary of the Interior shall appoint three lawfully qualified practicing dentists, residents of the Philippine Islands, to form the Board of Dental Hygiene. The members of this Board shall hold office until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. They shall serve without any compensation whatsoever. Immediately after their appointment, they shall meet and elect from among their number a chairman and a secretary. They shall meet from time to time, as the needs of their duties may require. On or before January first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, they shall present to the Director of Health a report of the work performed since their appointment, setting forth the number of children whose teeth have been attended to, the nature of the dental work done for them, and any other information they may deem of interest, and stating all sums of money received and the origin thereof, and all disbursements, and the purposes thereof. They shall under no circumstances contract obligations in a sum in excess of the actual amount of cash on deposit in the Insular Treasury to the credit of the Board. They shall perform all such other duties as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. SICaDA

SECTION 2. Funds, How Provided. — The Board of Dental Hygiene is authorized to solicit and accept money for the purposes and use of the dental clinics in the public schools of the Philippine Islands, during the period from its organization to December first, nineteen hundred and fifteen.

SECTION 3. Funds, How Deposited. — All sums received for the purposes of the present Act shall be forthwith deposited in the Insular Treasury to the credit of a fund to be designated as dental hygiene fund. It shall be the duty of the members of the Board, or their agents, to issue to each contributor or subscriber to the fund a receipt countersigned by the Insular Treasurer, for the exact sum paid by him and deposited in the Insular Treasury.

SECTION 4. Expenditure of the Money. — The money so received, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be disbursed for no other purpose except that of furnishing free dental service to the poor children in the public schools of the Philippine Islands, when deemed in the best interest of the pupils attending the schools, and to any and all children attending public and private schools of primary instruction. The expenditures shall be limited to the following items:

(a) Purchase of dental instruments and equipment necessary for properly carrying out the dental work contemplated by this Act.

(b) Essential expenditures in connection with the raising of funds, and the establishment of dental clinics, and the necessary expenses in connection with the business of the Board.

(c) For material, medicines, and dental supplies to be used for dental work on the school children.

(d) For the compensation of dentists, assistants, and others doing real dental work for the school children.

(e) For the compensation of such assistance or service as may be essential for carrying out the dental work in an adequate and sanitary manner.

SECTION 5. Employees. — All dentists, assistants, and other employees paid out of the dental hygiene fund shall be natives of the Philippine Islands or of the United States. They shall be selected impartially and in accordance with their aptitude for performing the service required.

SECTION 6. Disbursements upon Vouchers. — The Insular Treasurer shall not under any circumstances pay any money out of the dental hygiene fund created by this Act, except upon the presentation of vouchers duly signed by all three members of said Board and countersigned by the Director of Health and the Director of Education, and in case of the absence of one or both of them, or of any other good reason for inability to secure their approval, by their representatives in their respective Bureaus.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect on its passage. DcaSIH

Enacted, February 5, 1915.