Bad Teeth and Disease.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8051, 31 March 1905, Page 5

Bad Teeth and Disease.

In a paper read before the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association, entitled " Dental Decay as a Factor in the production of Disease," Dr Louis Henry, of the Prince Alfred Hospital, pointed out that the. physical development of the race was largely influenced by the condition of the teeth. The mouth, says Dr Henry, forms a most prolific culture bed for all kinds of bacteria, and a person suffering from dental decay is constantly swallowing injurious germs of various kinds. Dr Henry made observations on 600 patients during twelve months, the cases coinprising various kinds of gastric and intestinal disturbances, rheumatism, anaemia, bronchial and pulmonary affections, enlarged glands, adenoids, disturbances of the eye and ear, throat inflammation and neurosis. He found that over. 80 per cent of these were associated with dental decay in advanced stages. Two typical cases are those of a boy of seventeen and a business man, both of whom had bad teeth. The boy came to the hospital on crutches, but three weeks after his teeth were removed he walked home without them. The business man was in a state of rapid decline, but after his teeth had been attended to he became convalescent and resumed work. Dr "Henry believes that most infants are born healthy, and that as a rule the decay of- teeth and illhealth is due to improper feeding. The belief in lime water as a bone former is a popular error, because the lime required docs not come from the water,, but from the solid particles of the food consumed, and the lime in water has no influence* on the process of animal nutrition. The use of white bread should bs discouraged, especially in the case of children, and a bread made of flour containing all its natural ingredients substituted. Dr Henry pleads for the periodical inspection of the teeth of State school children. There is probably no reason to suppose that the teeth of colonial children are in a better state than those of the children of Germany, England, or America,.and dental statistics gathered in these last three countries show an alarming state of affairs. Over 40 per cent, of all teeth examined in children attending school in Germany were bad. In England 75 pec cent, of the children examined had bad teeth. In the United States 95 per cent, of the children of the poorer classes have carious teeth, and in the hospitals of New Zealand it is stated that the diseases of the teeth far outnumber those from all other causes put together. -