DENTAL DISEASES AND REMEDIES.

Evening Star, Issue 14183, 7 October 1909, Page 3

DENTAL DISEASES AND REMEDIES.

■■■"— + - ■ - There »not any one single thing more important to the public in the whole range of hygiene than tb© hygiene of the month, 11. I were asked to say whether more physical deterioration was produced by alcohol or by defective teeth, I should unhesitatingly say defective teeth.—William Oskr, M.D., F.R.S., Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford. We have arranged with the Dental Association for the publication of a series of articles regarding dental diseases. No. n.—CAUSES OF DENTAL SHSEASE. In a previous article the prevaleiic© of j dental disease was dealt with, showing that ■ 98 per cent, of the children examined in ‘ Dunedin bad decayed teeth. The causes of dental disease will now have to be con- | wdered. These may for convenience be | divided into predisposing, direct, and | dietetic. 1. Predisposing Causes.—(a) Imperfect development of the teeth, resulting in pits, crevices, _ and a general soft structure. The pits and crevices afford a lodgment for food, and the softness of the structure allows of it being easily attacked by decay. (hj) Irregularity of _ the teeth. When in a regular I portion the tongue and lips, with the help of the tooth brush, are better able to keep the surfaces free and clean, bat when the teeth are placed irregularly crevioes and spaces are formed which are inacc (suable, and food which i lodges in tlbem cannot be. removed. 2. Direct Cause.—'Food lodges in the crevices of the teeth and between them, and fermentation occurs, producing as a result acids that eat away the enamel, giving an entrance to microbes, which complete the process of decay. The sort of foods which form most acid are the ©larches and sugars, such, for instance, as bread, biscuits, cake, potatoes, etc., and chocolate, caramels, sweets, and lollies of all descriptions. , Dietetic Causes.—Artificial feeding cmnug the first year. This prepares the teeth for decaying by interfering with tneir natural development. The permanent teeth, which are to erupt from six yeans old and. onwards, commence to calcify or harden in the deep parts of the jaw from birth, and by the end of the lirst year twelve of the permanent teeth aiw partly formed, although they will not commence to be used until six or seven years afterwards. How nece«arv, then, 18 1116 stractl,re of the teeth that the child should receive ite natural nourishment during the first year. —Refinement of Foods.— Ihe change brought about by modern processes for preparing and refining food is answerable for the prevalence of dental disease. The removal of the husk from the gram, for example, lessens the amount of bone-forming salts. It also diminishes the amount the jaws require to be used, and *hus affects the blood supply and consequent nutrition of the teeth. Also, the refined foods are specially loclgablo in the crevices of and between the teeth. A food to produce decay requires only to be soft enough for mastication not to be needed. How many of the present-day foods answer bis description ? To quote a speaker at the St. Louis International Dental Conference: “Civilisation indulges in soft food cooked softer. It is therefore in the best possible condition to be driven into cavities there to remain lodged until fermentation shall have produced the acids which lead to decay.” Soft food does not require much mastication, and, as a consequence, one of the most important functions of digestion falls into disuse. Mastication is the natural cleanser of the teeth, and if food bo taken k '° eoR to require mastication it cloys around the teeth, with the inevitable result, udetw removed by the tooth brush, decay, l or the sake of comparison it may be as well to refer to the kind of meals which do not produce deray, and to those which in- \ dura decay. Quoting J. Sim Wallace, 'D.Sc./M.D.. RD.S. : 1. I hose Meals which Induce Dental , Decay.—Breakfast: Porridge and milk, I bread and marmalade. Then perhaps a \ -supplementary breakfast a few hours after of a glass of milk and a sweet biscuit. Luncheon : Mashed potatoes and igravy, or minced meat, milk, and pudding. Supper; Bread soaked in milk or bread and jam, cocoa, and cake, and a supplementary supper on going to bed of W glass of milk and a biscuit, or just “ a inv. piece of chocolate ** 2. Those -Meals which Do Net Proluce Decay. —Breakfast : Fish, bacon, oast and butler, coffee or tea. Lunhcoii: Meat or poultry, potatoes, salad, aked bread, pudding, fresh fruit, water, upper: Rusks, toast, or bread rolls and utter, chicken or fi-sh, an apple, tea or iptfee. •|u comparing these two types of diet it i« jecn that one is of a kind which stimulates mastication, and the last thing eaten leases the mouth in a clean condition. The other type represents the kind of meal which i« calculated to lodge about the teeth and to ruin them within a few years by malcing maslication and the self-deansing of the month practically imporeible. ■ In conclusion, it seems that all dental troubles are due to the refinement of foods. And that if a better state of things; is ever to occur it must be done through substitution of a more fibrous and simple diet. [Previous article appeared on September 22. The next article will deal with 'Prevention of Dental Disease and Dental Hygiene.]