IMPORTANCE OF TEETH

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 270, 11 August 1938, Page 4

IMPORTANCE OF TEETH

Lecture On Food And Dental Decay To Health Club

Colonel J. L. Saunders, Director of Dental Hygiene, gave an interesting lecture yesterday to the Wellington Health Club, which was formed to promote healthy living, particularly among children.

A child’s teeth, Colonel Saunders said, began to form about seven and a half months before it was born. The materials for building them' were supplied by the mother, and, therefore, had to come very largely from the food she took. Colonel Saunders stressed the importance of the diet of the mother during this period. He said that it was inclined to be taken as a matter of course that the teeth would decay at an early age, but were we justified in believing that children’s teeth, and those of adults as well, were bound to decay? Colonel Saunders said that as a result of a careful examination of 2268 children in various parts of New Zealand whose average age was only five years and six months, it was found that 2218 of these children already had decayed teeth. Only 50 had sound teeth. Many years of investigation had proved the vital connection between food and sound teeth. “We all know that unless our teeth are right, we cannot chew our food properly, but it is not so well known that if our food is not right, our teeth cannot be right,” ,said the speaker. Considering the foods of which more should be taken to promote better teeth, and those it would lie better to have less of, Colonel Saunders said much had been learnt by studying the native races of the world, including the Maoris, who, while following their age-old customs in regard to what they ate and how they lived, had perfect teeth; but who, on coming into contact with the white man, and adopting his artificial and refined foods, suffered from dental decay.

For guidance in just what should be eaten and what should be avoided if adults and children were to be healthy and have sound teeth, Colonel Saunders looked to no less an authority than the League of Nations. He quoted some of the findings of the special international committee of experts set up by the League, outlining what were termed protective foods and the benefits to be derived from them. By making better use of the foods suggested by the committee he thought it possible that dental decay could eventually be almost entirely prevented. The school dental clinic system was developing rapidly, said Colonel Saunders, and the Wellington Dental Clinic, which for several years past had not been able to take new patients, bad once more started enrolling children. “The success of the Government’s plans for bringing up a new generation of children in New Zealand who have good teeth,” he said, “will depend to a very great extent on the Interest and co-operation of the mothers. It will mean some thought and effort on their part, but it will be worth it if we can raise New Zealand from the position of having among the worst'teeth in the world to the best. When wfe consider the effect on the general health, that is something worth striving for.”