NEW ZEALANDERS BAD TEETH

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25678, 15 December 1948, Page 4

NEW ZEALANDERS BAD TEETH

Soil Deficiency Not Blamed “TOO MUCH SOFT FOOD EATEN ” More money should be spent on dental research in New Zealand, but it was a mistake to blame any nutritional deficiency in the soil for. New Zealanders’ bad teeth—New Zealanders themselves were to blame, said Dr. J. P. Walsh, Dean of the Dental School, Dunedin, yesterday. Dr. Walsh, in a telephone conversation with “The Press,” discussed remarks by Mr R. J. Richards, the headmaster, at the annual prize-giving ceremony at Christ’s College on Monday. Mr Richards said New Zealand boys were not noticeably less careful of their teeth than English boys, and English boys were not less kpen on sweets. He thought that New Zealanders’ teeth were ‘bad because of some nutritional deficiency in the soil, and that greater efforts should be made to find that deficiency. “The obvious answer is that the Maoris had the best teeth in the worlcL and they lived on the same soil,” said Dr. Walsh. “The modern concept of dental caries is based largely on the idea that fermenting carbohydrates are the cause. New Zealanders like soft foods, and eat too many carbohydrates. They also eat far too often. A biscuit at morning tea time is just as bad as a full-course dinner.” New Zealanders had not valued dentistry, he said. Far too many were willing to have their teeth out on the slightest pretext, and regarded false teeth as a national heritage. Half the men in the Army in the last war had false teeth, and they were supposed to be the cream of the country. “It is .just as well they did not have to fight tooth and nail,” he added jokingly. “No Social Stigma” There was no social stigma attached to the wearing of false teeth, but there should be, he said. “The average New Zealander keeps his rubbish tin cleaner than his teeth, so is it any wonder that the incidence of dental caries is high? “It is defeatism to blame the soil—we must blame ourselves.”

Dr. Walsh said that if the public demanded better dentistry as it should, it would get it, but there was a general failure to appreciate the real cause of decay.

He agreed with Mr Richards that more money should be spent on research, and added that the Medical Research Council had given some support to research projects at the school. Both the school and the Department of Health were trying out various methods of preventive dentistry.