OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 10, 6 October 1917, Page 5

OUR BABIES

[BY HTGEIA.I

Published undor l,he ausntccs of tlin Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fcnr.c at tho top of a prccipicn than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

OROOKEDKERS OP TEETH. "Mother of Three" writes from Canterbury as follows:— "I am in great distress about my little girl' 9 teeth, and wondered if you could, through thn medium of the Baby Column. Bive me any advice that would help lo relieve my anxiety. "My older uirl is eix years old, and about two months as;o filled her two bottom front, teeth. I ean just see the sawlike top 3 of tho new ones peepins throußb, and one looks as if it will lie behind the other, or in an oblique direction. Her first, teeth are so splendid and even that I'm really worrying about the crookedness of her new ones. "I should like to know:— (1) If I had pulled the. first teeth out when loose, instead of practically allowing them to drop out, would it have made any diflemice to the newcomers? CD is there anything that one can do now to remedy the defect? "1 may say that my stirl is stronp: and healthy, auU two months ago weclicd Jet. (fjtb., while her lieiKlH is just tit. .Slie was breast-led tor three nioniiis (never had a dummy), then had humanised milk with plenty of hard crusts, etc.—in fact, waa brought upon the lines of the Plunfiot Baoy Book. "I have always studied the children s health in every uossiblc way, and so fail to understand the reason of the. crooked teeth. Windows are open day and night, and the children aro out in all weathers, and then they comnlaln that they don t Eet enough fresh air. "Two younger children also have sjjlendid sets of teeth, and I'm now wondering it their second teeth will come crooked like their sister's."

EEPIil'. My feclins is that this mother o.usht to be heartily couwatulated on havinß done so well. There is not the slightest ground for her fear that tho permanent tooth of the two younger children will come through irregularly or obliquely because this happens to be occurring in the case of soinii of the front teeth of the oldest child. Under the feeding conditions of modern civilisation the jaws tend not to be biK enough for the second set of teeth when they arc pushing their way up to replace the emaller milk teeth, it ia quite natural that the mother should form the idea that the milk teeth offer au obstruction to the permanent teeth; but, this is not usually the case. A very beautiful »rovision of Nature is to he seen in the way in which the roots of the milk teeth are dissolved and absorbed until practically nothing but the crown of the tooth remains. This is why the natural shedding of the milk teeth is almost entirely painless. Au open passage is left for the advancing permanent tooth by the root, oi the milk tooth meltinpf away and ueinf? absorbed into the blood etrcam. The milk teeth ought, not to oner any obstruction to the. coming through of tne permanent teeth, but they may do so, and where there iB any doubt it is best to consult a dentist. On tho other hand, the permanent teeth very often jostle one another in their rival efforts to wente their places in jaws which are not .MB cnoueh to hold them without oyer-iapninK. or in extreme cases (louble-bankniß. Where a tooth is. thrown completely out of line and there are enouß.li teeth to fill the .iaw without it, it is sometimes necessary to- : r 0 " ,0 '" 5 . l ! le jostled tooth as superfluous ;.but such a decision should never be haßtily arrived at. being always a matter for careful consideration by a first-rate dentist. Extract From th/ Society's Book. I would strongly advise the mother to read carernlly what is said on pages 135 to 138 o£ the Society's Book (Feeding and Oaro of Baby) as to the development of tne jaws and the proncr eruntion and plndns of the teeth; and I may here quote the following passage:—

Dr. Anelo (the Brcat American dental authority) is strongly opposed to "imllinc oul teeth to make room," if avoidable. He shows how jaws which had failed to dfiveloii pronerly have been made to grow in a marvellous way Into the "working line." Tho way to make jaws which aro not largo enough grow sufficiently is to give them, through the teeth, enough work to do—the stimulus of extra work induoing increased blood supply and extra crowth of bone. In infancy the mother has the golden opportunity for building model jaws, by Riving the child bones to munch and Knaw, and dry, hard, or tough food to cat. Even the jaws of lads entering the Navy used to become bigger as the mult of having "hard tack" (ship's bifioiiitu. etc.) to work on. I have seen a small boy quite toothless owing to htarchy foods, little fat or flesh-formers, and no hard food.

No Need for Anxiety. Our correspondent is a little disappointed heciiusc, in spite af all the care she has taken, the second teeth are pet as regular a they should be. This may be merely accidental, and may not ho due to any lack of room, in which case the teeth would be \cry readily cot into proper position with a little assistance fiom the dentist; but considerable time will i:i; required If theru is any decided deficiency in the size of the jaws. The natural question the mother v-cnld ask is:—Wherein have I failed in regard to this matter—what more could 1 i ave do.ic? The only thing 1 can surest is that under the most ideal conditions for the full growth of mouth and jaws during infancy the baby would be suckled for full nine months, instead of three months. Breast-feeding always entails nmoh moro work for the mouth and surrounding parts than the best of bottlefeeding, and extra work means increased blood supply, and consequently moro vigorous growth of all the narts invoked. In the present case, to make up for lost time, the best course to pursuo is to ret the child to do as much work ae possible in the way of chewing and thorough mastication of food which required active •work done on it before it is swallowed, ■we re-aliae, from what the mother fays, that she has been pursuing the right, course in this connection, and all one can suggest is patience and perseverance. The worst course to pursue would be to resort to pap-feeding. The making of both the ivory and the enamel ol tho permanent teeth is effected mainly in tho first three years of life, so our correspondent need not doubt her powers to ensure a scund and perfect set ot teeth. These matters are fully discussed in nil their bearing in the. Society's Book, and. the mother should certainly read the section beaded "Par-reaching Effects of Mnsticating Exercise," pages M 6 to 148. I think it may prove encouragiug to the mother to mention a case in my own oxperienoc in which tho front teeth showed the tendency she mentions—there, van decided obliquity. However, in the course of only a fortnight the dentist, by a simple mechanical contrivance which save the child very little discomfort, set everything right, and tho child now has quite ideal jaws and teeth. As we havo indicated, the little girl should bo taken at. once to a, first-rate dentist. I think hn would confirm all I have said.