OUR BABIES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 3, 3 December 1931, Page 12

OUR BABIES

(By Hygeia.) Published under tne auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” BABYCRAFT FOR GUIDES—THE TEETH. “Few people realise the important role which sound teeth play in the maintenance of good health or the extent of the havoc which may be wrought by bad teeth” (Dr. J. Campbell Menzies’s article in the Nursing World). It has been said by competent critics that the teeth of the children in New Zealand are amongst the worst in the world. Out of some 60,000 New Zealand school children examined hy the school medical officers less than four in every hundred had perfect sets of teeth, and over half the children had some untreated decayed teeth. “Decayed teeth are a serious menace to health, and even for a short space of time they should not be tolerated either in a child or an adult. Also decayed teeth are full of poisonous germs—the poison is absorbed into the system (swallowed with the food) and may infect the tonsils or any part of the digestive system or may even damage the lining of the stomach and bowels. There exists a system known as the lymphatic system, which is part of Nature’s scheme for draining away poisons from different parts of ihe body. If there be too many poisons then this system becomes overworked and in consequence cannot cope with the poisonous material. Inflamed glands of the neck, so often resulting from the presence of decayed teeth, are a familiar example of this. The poison liberated from the teeth is so concentrated that the glands cannot remove it, and consequently become diseased.” (Dr. J. Campbell Menzies). The teeth, like every other part of the body, must first be soundly constructed and then exercised wisely if they are to be maintained in health. The average modern diet, besides being deficient in building materials, is soft and requires little or no mastication. “We have an outstanding, important, and interesting lesson to learn in New Zealand from the change which has taken place in the teeth of the Maoris since the white man came. Before our advent the Maoris had absolutely perfect teeth —sound, even, well-worn teeth—in wide, strong jaws. Now their teeth are no better than ours. What has taken place? In their primitive state the Maoris ate natural ioods raw or foods cooked in such a way that all nutriment waß retained. Fern root contributed a considerable portion of the diet and ensured hard use of the teeth. Considerable chewing must be required to extract nourishment from fern root. In our civilised diet all sorts of machine processes have been employed, and our food now reaches us in a greatly refined condition far removed from the natural state, and often the essential parts of the grain are lost in the milling process. There is no equivalent for fern root in our diet. This degeneration of the teeth of the Maori has been brought about by the adoption of our food and our food habits.’ Before discussing children’s food and the influence of food habits in relation to the teeth we shall consider the following elementary facts: Seven months before baby is born the foundations of every tooth he will ever have in his head have been laid down, both temporary (sometimes called milk teeth) and permanent teeth, and active work has begun on the first set. The second teeth begin at birth, but rapid, active work does not begin till about the time baby is born, and from then on building proceeds apace, and most of the crowns of the permanent teeth are completed by the time babv is three years old. Teeth are built out of blood, which conveys the material they require to the tinv cell workers building the teeth and performing the miracle of enamelling the crowns. So the cell workers must bo supplied with rich red blood if the teeth are to be strong and healthy and resist decay. If the mother’s diet is not well balanced her blood will _be deficient in bodv-building materials and the teeth will not be properly built.

THE INFLUENCE OF FOOD AND FOOD HABITS.

Now let us discuss the practical points in connection with feeding. First of all, call to mind the two cardinal points: (1) Food must provide the essential building materials, particularly the mineral elements and vitamins found so largely in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and nnlk, and (2) it must be of such a nature that the jaws and teeth are used, and used hard, for the purpose Nature intended —biting and chewing. inis applies from the very first days of the baby's life. The teeth, as we know, are "already in the gums; they are being built out of blood._ Only vigorous exercise of the gums will ensure a full blood supply: at this stage vigorous suckling is the only possible form of such exercise, therefore vigorous suckling is absolutely essential. It goes without saying that complete breast feeding is ideal on both counts. Mother’s milk is a perfect food, and suckling at the breast provides the natural, perfect form of jaw work from the start.. , . , If bottle feeding must be resorted to the baby should invariably receive an allowance of ood liver oil daily in some form. Cod liver oil is very, rich in those vitamins which promote growth and bone and tooth formation, and is necessary to make up for the deficiency of these" in ordinary cow’s milk. SELECTION OF FOOD.

Now as to food. The general principles are the same for the child as for the expectant mother, and there is not much to add to what wo have already discussed in that connection. If the greater part of the bread eaten is wholemeal and if other cereals used are prepared from the whole grains, if an abundance and variety of vegetables is eaten, and if fruit (fresh and sun-dried) is used liberally, if butter is not stinted and eggs are given occasionally, and if about a pint of milk is provided daily for each child, then the diet should be perfectly adequate in "building materials" of all kinds, and, other tilings being equal, the teeth will look after themselves.

SUGAR. Sugar should not be sprinkled on babv’s food. He will get ample sugar in the form of starch m his various foods— potato, bread and cereals. In the second year lie mav be given a little honey on his bread and a little sugar may bo used in the cwdnng of sour fruits or in making puddings. WHEN THE TEETH COME. Just before tho eruption of the first little teeth, at about six months, start systematically to teacli the baDy. to

bite and chew by giving him a smooth, scraped bone every day. From nine months give hard foods - in the form of fingers of twice-baked breads. .Let this be eaten when the baby is hungry, just before meal times, not between. From now on each of the three daily meals should include something crisp, hard, or tough, and from the time baby lias four teeth he should be taught to eat raw ripe apple and should be given a small piece of apple at the end of each meal. This is better than any toothbrush and cleansing the teeth and mouth. Have you ever noticed yourself how clean and sweet the mouth feels if an apple is eaten at the end of a meal P Compare this with the feeling when a meal ends with sweet cake or biscuits, or even pudding or bread.

THE FAR-REACHING EFFECTS OF MASTICATORY EXERCISE.

It is the botinden duty of parents to teach children to masticate thoroughly. Not only does it ensure a good blood supply to the developing teeth, but this same vigorous flow of blood nourishes also all the adjacent parts —jaws, nasal passages, tonsils, throat,_ and so on. This is a very, big factor in preventing adenoids and enlarged tonsils, with all their evil consequences. .Active chewing exercise nlso tends to broaden the palate, another factor in . preventing nasal trouble, and. to develop and widen the jaws, so giving room for regular spacing of the teeth ns they come through, and helping to prevent decay and difficulty from overcrowding. We tend to place an altogether undue value on “pap foods”—puddings, bread and milk, and the like. If you think about it without prejudice, vou will realise that a meal of crisp, toasted bread and butter with a drink of hot milk contains every bit as much nourishment as a plate of hrend and milk, with this difference: the former provides healthv exercise for the jaws and teeth and leaves the mouth clean, whereas the latter provides no exercise whatever, and. moreover, the sticky, starchy consistency of the mixture causes particles of highly fermentable material to adhere to crevices in the teeth, and this is one of the most fruitful causes of decay.

WATCH FOR THE SIX-YEAR-OLD MOLARS.

It is most important to realise that the teeth which come up behind the last of the baby teeth, at about six years of age are the first of the permanent set. Every possible care should be taken of these teeth. They are, as it were, the keystone of the permanent arches, and early loss of even one causes more or less irregularity and falling out of place of all the back teeth on that side. Besides this one has to remember that these four teeth work in pairs as grinders, and if one is lost the grinding power of the corresponding tooth in the- other jaw is lost—a grave misfortune and a permanent handicap. The first sign of decay in these teeth should be attended to. Do not allow extraction of these teeth unless they are already so extensively decayed as' to be impossible to repair. CLEANING,THE TEETH.

The teeth should be brushed night and morning; but remember that the toothbrush may in itself be a menace to health. It should be well rinsed after use, and always hung up und kept dry where it can be reached by sun and air. Common salt, baking soda, or a fruit acid mouth wash are the best dentrifices for children, and the brushing should be done with an up-and-down stroke as well as along the surfaces and crowns. Just as important as the brushing of the teeth is the rinsing of the mouth with clean water or weak salt and water. Children should early .be taught to repeatedly rinse and swish the water through and between the teeth and then spit it out as a routine part of the process of “cleaning the teeth.” At the same time never forget the importance of the diet in the preservation of the teeth and remember the “apple rule.”