FOR BETTER TEETH

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 122, 19 November 1931, Page 7

FOR BETTER TEETH

USING VITAMINS

A: new use is suggested for the junior member of. the vitamin family—Vitamin d—namely, the checking of decay in teeth, says the "Daily Telegraph." This is the conclusion, of the Committeeoorn r Dental Disease, who have been, investigating the influence of diet on caries (decay) in children's teeth, and the striking results obtained are described in their interim report, which has been issued by the Medical Besearch Council. The full report will be published later. The investigations which are being carried out under the personal supervision of Mrs. M. Mellanby and Dr. H. C. T. Langdon at three residential institutions for children at Birmingham have lasted about two years, and are still in progress. The basal diet is similar in the three institutions, it is stated, being generous though not particularly rich in fat-soluble vitamins. To test the result of a supply of these vitamins groups of children were selected in each institution and to them was given a daily ration, to one a measure of cod-liver oil (containing vitamins A and D), to the second a corresponding ration of treacle, and to the third a similar amount of olive oil, both of these items containing important food elements,- but without fat-soluble vitamins.- At'a later stage the third group was divided into two, one. receiving olive oil and the other olive oil with an addition of radiostol (vitamin D). At intervals of six months each child underwent a careful and detailed dental inspection, the results of which were charted and the charts standardised. Summarising their conclusions the committee states: — "The progress of caries in the permanent teeth has been significantly retarded in those children receiving an added ration of fat-soluble vitamins as compared with those whose additions consisted of treacle and olive oil respectively; the increase of caries in the vitamin group, whether measured by its incidence or its extent, being approximately one-third of that in the other groups." The same finding would seem to apply to permanent teeth as well as to the first (or deciduous) set, though the comparatively small numbers dealt with render the results less reliable.