SUGAR AND DENTAL DISEASE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, Issue LIV, 14 August 1920, Page 5

SUGAR AND DENTAL DISEASE

THE OPINION OF EXPERTS (Article published under authority of Education Department). It lias been suggested by a newspaper correspondent that the Education Department should make clearer upon what grounds it lias state*/ in an article recently published under its authority that sugar is a cause of denial disease. 'Du' article referred to is one of a series in which the Department is endeavouring to do something to stem the steady advance of this now almost universal disease which is 'becoming an increasingly serious menace to onr .national welfare. It should be emphasised at the outset that the excessive consumption of sugar is not the only cause to which dental decay is attributed, but in the opinion of eminent dental and medical authorities after careful observation' ami research during the last 'J i> years if is certainly regarded as one of the chief causes of the. phenomenal increase in denial caries experienced in. modern times. Were we possessed of no further knowledge than that sugar being an acid-producing food helps to decalcify the enamel which is the protective covering of the ice! hj, a- glance at ihe figures showing ihe increase i.u the consumption of sugar during the last AO years would probably convince the average reader that there is some connexion .between Hie excessive consumption of sugar and the increase in dental decay. Ample proof in support of this belief will he found in the following references to, and extracts from, the writings of those qualified to speak upon this .subject.

SUGAR CANE ANI> NATIVES TEETH

11, P. Picket-ill, M.D., IM.D.S. ■(Birmingham), Dean of the. Dental .Faculty University «>f Otago, who has engaged in considerable research work in connexion with the causes of dental disease, has stated that manufactured sugar, especially in the form-of sweets, is a potent cause of dental decay. Ho affirms that a growing child can obtain all the sugar it needs for its muscles, fat, and heat development from consumption of it in a natural form, i.e., as found in fruit and some vegetables. Dr Pickerill shows that the example of native children chewing a large amount of sugar-cane being quoted and accepted by many as evidence that cane sugar cannot be productive of dental caries is erroneous. _ The juice of the sugar cane is markedly acid like fruit-juice and produces a copious flow of alkaline saliva, inducing a condition of alkalinity in the mouth five times greater than thatevoked by bread and butter. _ There is also a marked difference in the concentration of cane sugar as taken by natives in sugar-cane and as taken in the form of lump sugar or sweets. It requires about 20 sticks of sugar-cane to make 1 pound of lump sugar. This menus that every- large “lump” of sugar is equal to two feet of cane. European children frequently therefore eat the equivalent of at least 10 to 12 feet of cane in a few minutes, while many adults consume the equivalent of at least 2to 6 feet or cane in a cup of tea. J. Sim Wallace, D.Bc., M.D., L.D.B. formerly Dental Surgeon and Lecturer on Dental Surgery, London Hospital, has written numerous works on the Cause and Prevention of Decay in Teeth and of Common Diseases in Childhood For twenty years past he lias consistently taught thfi-t for the prevention of decay in teeth we must re!v upon a properly arranged diet. In numbers of cases Dr Wallace has proved that children, brought up on a national diet v-ith Hie eliminaiion of free sugar, are immune from dental disease. He discovered the kinds of foods which tended to induce denial caries and those which tended to prevent caries, from considerations of the evolutional'v history'of man and his diet, from careful clinical and statistical observations with regard to diet among children who were practically free from and those who wore ravaged bv caries and from comparisons of the teeth and diet of different ■ savage races. OHU/OPEN WITH "PERFEIT TEETH

lie ays ‘'The excellent results which have been got by bringing up children on a dietetic regime based upon the knowledge derived from these sources show beyond all possibility ot doubt, that dental caries is not only provontiblo put that it is easih aiu .surely prcventlble.” The teaehiugs of Dr Wallace, with regard to the elimination of free sugar from the diet of children, have been carried out hv enthusiasts all over the world, and hi tills Dominion there arc instances of dentists and doctois nlio, havino- sufficient faith in their behets, have put them into practice with thenown children with the result that these children now possess periodteeth. TKETfT OF ENGLISH SCHOOL CHILDREN

Dr James Wheatley, County and School Medical Officer for Shropshire, has been able to prove from his statistics that the eating of sweets by children is responsible for 50 per cent, of the decayed teeth in children at the present day. In May of this-year Dr Wheatley produced a record of investigations in the elementary schools of Shronshiro, showing tnat since the War there had been a very pronounced decrease in the number of t children suffering from decayed teeth due to the altered character of the bread and the lessened consumption of sweets. Ihe average percentage of children nith teeth fret- from decay at the ago of o vears during the years 1910-1914 inclu-sive-was 5 per cent., and during the last six months previous to May, L«u it was 44 per cent. At the age of Ivears the figures were 2.9 and .1 respectively. . Reference to other authorities must he deferred for another, article. _ In conclusion the Department considers that in view of the above and _ other statements it may be safely said that it is now a generally act opted opinion amongst experts that sugar is one ot the most potent causes of dental decay.