CARE OF THE TEETH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 18 June 1924, Page 7

CARE OF THE TEETH

RED GROSS LECTURE Mr C. E. Wheeler presided at the Wellington Red Gross lecture, which was delivered by Mr M. Denniston, on the subject of the care of the teeth, says the New Zealand Times. The chairman said that the dentists wero out for the betterment of humanity. Mr Denniston impressed on Ins heareis the necessity of taking care of the teeth from the start. There was an appalling amount of dental decay in New Malaria He showed a diagram of a tooth, ana explained that the outside covering was as hard as glass, and should not be allowed to decay. A clean mouth was a most necessary thing, for such diseases as diptheria, consumption, etc., su.. often in the mouth. There was really no reason wliy teeth, should decay n care was taken. The chief .cause of decay was acid in the mouth, and this was caused chiefly by sugar, taken in the form of sweets. Italians ha,d the best teeth in the world, and their consumption of sugar was less than one pouna per head per year. In New Zealand we consumed 1601 b per head per year, an this was the root cause of all the trouble in this country. Saliva was induced by what we- put mto our mouths, and when we put sweets there we induced bah instead of a good saliva. , No sweets then was the first rule, and then apples, vegetables, and brown bread should be eaten. In this country we did not value apples as we should. Hwe ate properly we should not require toothbrushes, but since we did the right time to use them was at night. The speaker said ho was convinced that it more care was taken of the dental condition o expectant mothers there would be less after- trouble than there is now. He explained how an abscess could form, and said the greatest precautions should be taken against one, for such a condition poisoned the blood, and was often the beginning of rheumatism and artnritis. . , Mr Denniston impressed on his hearers the value of the cabbage, and said that many doctors were prone to say people had pyorrheoa when they only had sore gums from improper feeding. •Nevertheless any tartar round the teeth should be removed, and plenty of greens, oranges, and apples eaten. As for milk, while it was dear it was worth it, as we got pure clean milk and full value, which was more than customers did before. Mr Denniston returned to the charge that sweets were the chief trouble, and people lacked tlie moral courage to refuse their children sweets. He referred to the fact that Mr Darroch, at a liousoholders meeting at Mount Cook School, had said the children spent hundreds of ■pounds a year on sweets, and yet when the Navy League (of which he was secretary) fed the school children who came to visit the fleet, they gave them sweets. Three meals a day, plenty of fruit and no sweets was the right diet, and while not much could be done for the gi ownups now, it was up to the parents to look alter the children and see that they had a better start. There was no excuse to say they could not afford dental treatment, for in New Zealand theie were school dental clinics, and also at the hospitals, and advice and treatment could always be had.