Special Biscuit To Cut Tooth Decay Suggested

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29714, 6 January 1962, Page 2

Special Biscuit To Cut Tooth Decay Suggested

(Special Correspondent NZ.P.A.)

LONDON, January 5,

A biscuit for children made from unrefined cereal, cheese, bone meal, seaweed meal and brewers’ yeast powder is advocated by a Bedford dentist, Mr C. N. Peacock, to reduce the mount of decay in children’s teeth.

Writing in the "British Medical Journal," Mr Peacock, who has been practising for 58 years, claims that fluorides are the key to good health and that they are to be found in unrefined cereals. The ingredients he named, he says, provide the foundation for stronger, healthier teeth, better able to withstand decay. “I have asked the leading biscuit manufacturers to make a biscuit to my specifications. They have all been very co-operative, but after experimenting they say it will require a special department and money.” he said“In an amateur way, I have had them made successfully in my own kitchen. I have been giving them to young patients from the age of 12 months. The inclusion of cheese makes them acceptable to children, but of course it will be five to ten years before the effects of the biscuits can be determined."

The “Daily Mirror” suggests that the Health Ministry should make these biscuits available free to children in a town of about 20.000 people. A year’s experiment on a "before and after” basis, it adds, could provide invaluable informa-

tion in fighting tooth decay. “There is no doubt children’s teeth are in an appalling state. Only two children out of every 100 reach the age of 12 with a sound set of teeth," the “Daily Mirror" said. “The average five-year-old has four decayed, missing or filled teeth."