Record For Celery Chewers

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30531, 28 August 1964, Page 12

Record For Celery Chewers

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, August 27. Dental research experts overseas are putting delicate instruments in the mouths of test patients to record the noises they make when eating, Professor C. Durning, of Dunedin, said today.

He was lecturing at the New Zealand Dental Association conference on mastication with artificial dentures. The research workers suspected that chewing noises might have significance in chewing efficiency, Professor Durning said, so they were recording and analysing them to see if there was some consistent frequency pattern. “Naturally the noise a person makes while chewing celery sounds louder to him than it does to people about him. The recorded noises will be ‘scrambled’ and played back in his mouth to see if this upsets mastication. “It sounds quite fascinating,” said Professor Durning amid laughter. From another series of tests it seemed quite clear that artificial dentures themselves did not have the importance dentists would like

to think they had as far as chewing ability was concerned, he said. “The defect lies in the food transporting system, the coordination of muscular activity which puts food on the teeth,” ■ he said. Until universal fluoridation of water was accepted or the pipe dream of some immunity factor came true, dentists must continue trying to pro-

vide artificial dentures which were comfortable and restored appearance and function.

The treatment of more than half the adult population of New Zealand included full dentures, he said, and most patients generally would say it was successful and that they could eat pretty well anything. Chewing ability varied widely, however, and there seemed plenty of scope for improvement for patients with the lowest efficiency.

“Most of us assume this does matter,” said Professor Durning, “although there is little positive evidence to support it. Chewing aids digestion, but very little chewing is necessary.”