TEETH OF CHILDREN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13765, 2 June 1908, Page 6

TEETH OF CHILDREN.

STRONG REMARKS BY DR. ' PICKERILL. [BY TELEGRAPH.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Dukedix, Monday. Before a meeting of the Society for the Promotion of the Health of Women and Children, Dr. Pickerill, doctor of the University Dental School, made some important remarks on "Teeth." In the course of his address. Dr. Pickerill said : " Some time ago I said that the condition of the teeth of the children was appalling. Some people have thought that remark too strong. On more consideration I think it was not strong enough. When I tell you that! constantly see children, between the ages of 11 and 15 (when only permanent teeth should be present), with till their teeth absolutely rotted away, unbeatable, unsalable, no particle of use for biting or masticating, and, worse than all, poisoning digestion by swallowing the toxins produced in the various cavities and suppurating gums, you will agree with me there is grave, cause for alarm, for how can such children develop into healthy men and women when at the very threshold of their lives they undergo a process of semi-star-vation and chronic poisoning, to say nothing of trie- actual loss of time from school occupation or the pain and suffering involved. That children should be so afflicted with a preventible disease as to be handicapped for the rest of their mortal lives is nothing but a siur on our boasted civilisation, and a national disgrace. Is there no remedy for this- state of affairs? Certainly, there are two methods. The first is the municipal or State aided dentistry, but this is an expensive luxury. A fact which is too often overlooked is that the majority of the temporary teeth are. formed, and a large number of the permanent teeth are being developed, at birth. Therefore, their proper development depends, to a large extent, upon the health and diet of the mother; if this should bo faulty and incorrect the child" will have poorly developed soft teeth, incapable of.resisting the attacks of disease later in life, and the same principle applies to feeding of children in early infancy, with regard to the development of the permanent teeth. He wont on to say that diet was at the bottom of the trouble. While the society was telling the mothers how to feed the babies, it should logically go on to tell them how to feed them, or, at any rate how not to feed them when they passed beyond babyhood. There was a craze for food containing a, maximum of nourishment in a minimum space, for food so soft and well cooked as to give the teeth and jaws no work to do, and as to obviate the use of any .salivary glands. He did not mean to say that people should eat raw meat or unground corn, but neither should they ;n----sist on having them so prepared and so tender and so delicately cooked that there was no work for the teeth, jaws, and other organs to do. Finally, he suggested that all those connected with the practical work of the society, and particularly the Lady Plunket nurses, should receive some instruction in oral hygiene and dietectics, in addition to training in infant die try and nursing, that- they might go as missionaries throughout the land and spread the gospel of good teeth in the homes.