USE OF DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 18

USE OF DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE

“No Substitute For Fluoridation” (New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, December 1. The dicalcium phosphate which many Owaka residents had agreed to add to their food was no substitute for sodium fluoride or fluoridated water, Dr. Fred Losee, director of dental research for the New Zealand Medical Research Council, said today. The use of dicalcium phosphate was only a temporary measure, as there was so much still to be learnt about dental decay, said Dr. Losee.

“Don’t expect miraculous results.” he said. “The mineral powder has been proved to lower considerably the incidence of tooth decay in Sweden, and trials ase under way in New York and Brazil. “Chemically, it makes sense, so there seems a good chance that it would work here. New Zealanders eat a lot of bread.” Fluoride could lower the decay rate by about 65 to 70 per cent., and dicalcium phosphate might give another 5 to 10 per cent, benefit. If parents followed proper diets without sweets for their children, that would be "about the maximum science can do today.” Dr. Losee said the people of Owaka were not being experimented on, nor were they taking part in a controlled experiment. They had asked for advice on how to reduce their extremely high incidence of tooth decay, and various practical measures had been suggested to them. Dr. Losee is a distinguished American dental scientist who is at present on loan to the Medical Research Council by the United States Navy Dental Corps to further his research on the relation of soil deficiencies and dental caries.