CARE OF THE TEETH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1177, 12 July 1911, Page 4

CARE OF THE TEETH.

NEW ZEALAND DENTAL CONFERENCE. PRESIDENT'S ADDEESS. .The annual conference of tho New Zealand Dental Association, which opened yesterday, was attended by delegates from all parts of New Zealand. The object of those conferences is to afford dental practitioners an opportuntiy of meeting to exchange views on matters of technique and practice, hear papers read on special subjects of interest to the profession, and to witness clinical work by experts in different branches 01 dentistry. In view'of the great and increasing interest in tho caro of tho teeth as one of the most important factors in maintaining tho health of tho body, the deliberations of the. conference should bo of especial interest. Tho conference was opened yesterday atternoon by tho president (Mr. A. Paterson, of Christchurch), who said:— It is one of the most pleasant duties that has fallen to my lot this year to extend to you all a : hearty welcome to this our seventh annual conference, and hope you will all find it interesting, profitable, and enjoyable to tho fullest extent. I desire also at this time the privilege of expressing to tho executive and to the many loyal members of our Eociety my personal appreciation of their valued services in tho work of the past year. Whatever wo have done to advance the profession by our allied efforts must rebound to tho credit of those who by their untiring efforts have stood shoulder to shoulder in the. work with me. My-:address on this occasion will be in three' sections—Mrst, to the public; second, to the medical profession; and third/to the dental profession. To the Public,

As statistics prove that in civilised countries the number of school children suffering from defective teeth number from 80 per cent to 98.5 per cent., I would impress upon the public the great necessity for keeping their children constant} under the care of a rehablo dentist. Xhe public do not seem to recognise tho advantages which will accrue to the cl from this desirable course. They should bo impressed with the fact that all cmldren should be taken to a dentist when they are. three years old, and then every six months after. If people have children and have tho means it is their boundeii dty to look after their dental organs If they have not tho 'means then it is the duty of the State to make the necessary provisions in this respect for our future citizens Parents as a rule are too prone to look upon dental hygiene as unnecessary, and to'consider the OT«f dentist as a luxury. A great deal has been said regarding the care of s teeth, but not until every dentist in tne Dominion drums and drums this access jv into every mother's ear year by year will t ever mature and bear tho fruit ft should. It han appalling fact, but nevertheless true that last year the manufacturers o artificial teeth'sold over 60.000.000 and when we think that every one of these went to replace a natural tooth which with proper care and attention, uouM have kste'd a lifetime, 1 think you w.l have to agree with mo that it is a crjine disgrace, if not even criminal. Unsgwrei&'ftVSWs arises, how are we to prevent this state of things? We need not look to the Government for any support, as they seem to be doing their best to flood the country with incompetent men, and that olass of men thinks only of the .£ s. cl. which he can obtain for work which is the easiest and quickest, quite regardless of the welfare of his patients. Now, this is not the. raving ot a disordered mind, but an absolute fact, and it is one of tho things which prevents the public from having that high ideal of the dental profession that.it deserves, Row,, it behoves us to tako some steps to ootain this desired end.

Dental Wards. Ono of the first steps I would suggest is that dental wards should; lishod in' every town where there is a public hospital. This can bo done at a very small expense, and once established, would l>e inoro self-supporting than any medical ward, and would he of as nuich benefit to the peoplo as any medical ward; in fact, if they were established and properly managed, we would be able to do away with half the accommodation that is now needed in our public hospitals, as two-thirds of diseased conditions are caused by, or aggravated by, the condition of human mouths and teeth. I know it is a difficult task to try and instil'this fact, into the .minds of lomo of the members of our Hospital Boards, as they do not seem to comprehend the importance of this matter whiclimust eventually received attention, as it has alrqady done, in. tho more progressive city of the north—Auckland. . In Christchurch we approached the Hospital Board and received at the initial _ stages every encouragement, and were invited to the hospital to inspect rooms, which we found would suit our purpose admirably, but to our surprise, we were told later that the rooms could not , be spared as they were most useful in their present capacity, as box rooms, etc. As a matter of fact, we have not up to the present time received on official communication from the board intimating that the ward is, or is not, available. On the contrary, we were told indirectly through an unethical dentist that the scheme was unworkable. So much for our publicspirited action. My sscond suggestion is that a pamphlet should be compiled by the N.Z.D.A. on the care of the month and teeth, and this should be thrown broadcast' and givefi to every "mother and to every teacher in the laud, and the latter should see that every child receives a, proper course of teaching on the subject, and also actual attention. Physiology is already taught, but' what is tho use of knowing the functions of tho mouth, without the knowledge of the best means of cleaning the mouth for the perfect discharge of those functions. It seems quite an assertion to make, but bettor that tho child should know how to look after its oral cavity, which is the gateway to almost every disease, than to oven know its English grammar, for what is the use of its grammar when its body is continually in a state of disease. The brain of every child is inactive and unretentivo to knowledge if suffering from diseased teeth as every school teacher can testify. Investigation has shown that bright children have better teeth than tho dull children. The chances of children with good tcotn are, therefore, appreciably better for scholarships and promotion than arc those of children with bad teeth. Wo are all aware that many diseases can be traced directly or indirectly to defective teeth. Among some of the diseases thus caused or specially aggravated are—Neuralgia, headaches, earaches, indigestion, heart trouble, enlarged glands, nose, throat ami eye trouble, nervous disorders, etc. Without good teeth there cannot be thorough mastication, without mastication there cannot be perfect digestion, without perfect digestion there cannot be proper assimilation, without proper assimilation there cannot bo proper nutrition, without proper nutrition there cannot bo health, and without health what is there in life? My third suggestion is that our different local societies at intervals should select men to deliver lectures to tho teachers of all our public schools, so that they could impart ■ our knowledge in a more comprehensive way to their pupils. It is astonishing what little knowledge even the teachers have, on this most important suhject. It seems somewhat incongruous that teachers should lie supposed to give lectures on oral hygiene when they as a class have not had the opportunity to acquire, even the most rudimentary Knowledge 6n the subject. It is just as difficult to' teach an old dog new tricks now as ever it was,, but you can educate the rising generation, to observe hygienic habits, to. their lasting benefit, and I believe, that years of patient plodding will convince the masses that a movement of this kind is mainly for their benefit. A Mote of Warning. This seems a .suitableoccasion for us to sound a note of warning to tho public. As tho more educated portions of the community avoid the unregistered medical t|uack*with his patent ideas, his electric belts, his catarrh mixtures, and his cure-alls, so ought they to avoid the dental quack, with his cheap dentures, his painless dentistry, and his latest methods. Just as they would avoid n medical man who canvassed the country side for patients, so should the peoplo avoid the dentist who, owing to lack of skill, and recommendation from his patients, is forced to canvas the .countryads for. work.

These men do not do the best for the public, and they know it; they aro in dentistry for the immediate monetary consideration and little ebe, as hundreds, even thousands, of. the public already know to their bitter cost. There was a movement on loot a year or eighteen months ago for the examination of the teeth of school children. This seems to have died a natural death, and I would urge thnt it be again gone on.with, until every pupil in every public school in the Dominion has been examined. When this has been completed it should bo tabulated and sent to every.member of Parliament, and by that means endeavour to make our representatives see the gravity of the situation, without which we shall have little hope of getting dental wards established in our public hospitals. Surely there must be tome way of combatting the great evil "oral sepsis." It is apparent that educational work can best be accomplished through the children. Modern educational methods recognise that in order for a child to do efficient work his physical make-up must be normal, and our people must remember that the health of our citizens is the greatest asset of our nation. I would again like to quote a paragraph froc," 1 . tho "Lancet" in a strong plea for the hi tyer caro of the teeth ot English school children, which it says is a matter of first importance to the country. It declares that tooth-brush drill is of little value when carried out during school. To be of uso.it must be carried out, at the proner times, tho most important of all being tho last thing before retiring to bed. This medical authoritv thinks also that a well-organised crusade throughout tho country on the importance of the teeth, and technique of their proper care, would be follow-ed by an immense improvement in the health of the nation, and from the point of view of the combatant services, by an enormous decrease in the percentage of recruits reiected for defective teeth. During the South African War there were 28,000 soldiers incapacitated through having defective teeth. It seems to mo scarcely neces«arv before a dental society to further. call attention to the necessity for this class of work, and wo assume that there is no doubt in the minds of the profession as to its most urgent need. A.t a morning session yesterday tho delegates discussed general association business, and in the afternoon a number of papers were read and discussed. Clinics will be dealt with at the morning session to-day, and in the afternoon will again be dovoted to papers and discussions. It is anticipated that the conference will conclude on Friday. The annual dinner of the New Zealand Dental Association is to be held at the Grand Hotel this evening. To-morrow evening visiting delegates are to be entertained by the members of the Wellington branch.