DENTAL DISEASE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23052, 1 June 1938, Page 17

DENTAL DISEASE

NUTRITIONAL TEST PLAN WELLINGTON EXPERIMENT [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Tuesday The object of the nutritional test for the control of dental disease it is prop, posed to carry out .at the Mount Cook School, Wellington, was explained by the Minister of Health, the Hon. P. Fraser. He denied that the Smith Family was embarking on a .nutritional experiment in one of the State schools on its own initiative and without expert guidance, and said that the proposal to make the test emanated from the New Zealand Dental Association. The Smith Family had offered to co-operate by providing meals for selected children. The meals, however, would be arranged under expert guidance, and there would be no question of "experimenting" on children to the detriment of their health.

The proposal, said Mr. Fraser, was to endeavour to carry out under local conditions what had already been done successfully for groups of children in other countries, namely, to arrest the progress of dental disease by means of what is considered a suitable diet. If it could be shown that this could bo achieved in New Zealand, the test would be worth while. Mr. Fraser added that he had asked that the dental sub-committee of the Medical Research Council should overlook the arrangements and consider the findings, and he understood that the New, Zealand Dental Association had readily agreed to co-operate.