DENTAL PARLIAMENTS.

Evening Star, Issue 12060, 2 March 1907, Page 2

DENTAL PARLIAMENTS.

I There have boen very'important represenI tativo gatherings of dentists during tho, ' past, month to deal not only with matters pertaining to their professional interests; but also <with that aspect of dentistry touching - the well-being of the community.- In Sydney tho first Dental Congress ever held in Australia Gat under the chairmanship of Mr Hoyne, the Chief Secretary of the State, and this initial gathering, was attended by delegates from every State in the Commonwealth. An invitation to be present was courteously 6ent.to the New. Zealand Dental Association, but circumstances prevented its acceptance, certairly not from want of sympathy, but mainly because the annual Conference of the local Association was about to take place, and was indeed held in Christchurch last week. These periodical gatherings are of growing consequence, because the cate of the mouth is universally allowed to lie of prime importance in connection with the momentous question of rescuing the race from the deterioration that in many authoritative quarters is believed to be threatening our physical condition. .To dentists themselves these gatherings' strengthen the hands of their various societies in the way of securing unity of action in serving common interests and in devising means to keep unqualified persons outside a vocation that by study and the practice of high 'deals has 6ecured r for dentistry an entrance into the circle of the learned l ' professions. Such aims, so thoroughly honorable and legitimate, may well bo appreciated by the public at large, who are learning, all too ' slowly, the value of oral Hygiene and'the j urgent necessity of attending to the condition of. children's teeth from the earliest period possible jn their young lives., 'At J every gathering of members of the dental I profession there is the praiseworthy inaistr enoo on a general crusade against parental indifference or ignorance concerning the unclean or neglected condition of teeth in childhood; Dr Burne, ■ president crfVthe Australian Congress, was.very emphatic in pointing' out that dental disease .resulted in insanity, that epilepsy" was cansod 1 hereby, or made • permanent; that bad teeth or lost teeth induced iinpaired digestion, and the resultant disability caused a craving for liquor, -'and a. too free indulgence in liquor begat crime. At 'every such gathering iimilar testimony is given, and eminent authorities are. quoted in support of the imperative necessity for more and private attention being paid to the condition, in which the month should.be kept for the sake, of health and. cleanliness, to 'say nothing. of !the. charm "that. ..the, possession of. good..teeth. Whenever statistics ...are. necessity become? at once, too Otago. Odontological Society have recently made public the unwelcome fact .that t ,;<}ut of 800 chMren'a teeth': iainongst scholars ranging from,, the Pirat to tbe SixthJJJancV ard .they found; only thirteen perfectnsßta. in" .WeEington 1,148 ' cMdren underwent dental examination m eight'of. the s^oola,

and noiiess than 5,887 teeth werja :f ojtnd to require treatment, or, to pat it approximately, every, child seeded &v& ar.jiix, of .its teeth treated. Such a state of 'things is indeed--deplorable-, and'the fact is all the more lamentable because proper attention would ' ba-vo" been preventive of such, unhealthy'conditions in the great majority of cases. It is, however, eomo satisfaction to know that remedial measures are in prow gross. _ Mj F. W. Thompson, "president of the New Zealand Association, was able to congratulate that body at their recent meeting in Christchurch on the establishment of a Dental School in Duncdin, towards* which the members of the Association bod themselves subscribed £I,OOO. Ho was able further to- point out the gratifying fact that within the past year the new degree of 8.D.5., New Zealand, in connection with the four years' dental course of the University of New Zealand, had been recognised by the Medical Council of Great Britain and accepted for registration. In-this matter our Colony is ahead of the another State of New South Wales, which 'has not yet secured Homo recognition for.their dental <]<>grees. The establishment of a lectureship in;. Domestic Economy at the Canterbury College will BO; doubt be a further means of banishing some of the parental ignorance that lies at the base of much infantile neglect. All these are-signs that tho .dental, profession;is leaving far in the roar those dark days when the care of the •mouth was left to barber surgeons, and when teeth were drawn from the heads of rustics at country fairs for the amusement of onlookers. It is said that half a tori of gold is used every-year in America for filling teeth, to 6ay' nothing of the enamels that' are/also largely used for tooth-stop-ping. The statement bears abundant testimony to heed for the dentist's necessary and beautifying art, while at the same time the results of examinations into bur children's mouths give, trumpet-tongued evidence of the neglected state of oral, hygiene locally, and the imperative .necessity for closer and a more constant attendance to a phase of personal unckanness that so often receives quite secondary eonsiderntiarv • and not uncommonly is forgotten altogether. In connection with tho Cbristchurch meeting of the Association, it may be noted with satisfaction that it was. attended by the Hon. G.' Powlds, the Minister of Public Health, and by Dr Mason, Chief Medical Officer. At their.hands the objects of the Dental Association received official benediction., The former very properly remarked that "to simply examine "the teeth and inform the parents that "those required attention was no use, xm- " less there were provided also some means " of. rectifying the evils. The eatablish"ment of some method of treating the "teeth of children, and particularly those "of parents who were not in a position to "pay dental fees, was absolutely an essential corollary of the compulsory examina"tion of the children's teeth." In this direction there will soon be do room for complaint as. far as Dunedin is concerned, for increased, hospital accommodation and a well-equipped Dental School will be available. JEhe want of such facilities in connection with tho Christchnrch Hospital was rather warmly commented on at the recent Conference, but is mentioned here from a desire to note with hearty appreciation the fnct that the members of tho dental profession aro themselves; moot insistent in their advocacy of not only setting a.very hi"h standard for tbe qealification of dental practitioners, but also of the necessity of placing skilled dental treatment within thereach of ail. They 1 are keenly alive to the thousand .ilia the-mouth is heir to,, and arewilling to make common cause against those oral diseases that are said to be one of the penalties) we are paying for our, advance in ;the, scaW. of .civilisation. This commendable .hurnanitanariism is happily characteristic of all the learned, proie.sions that make a • study ,qf, bringing.about the betterment of the physical conditions of their , fellow" creatures. . - |