CAKE OF THE TEETH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7850, 12 July 1911, Page 5

CAKE OF THE TEETH

DENTISTS IN CONFERENCE. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE FOR THE CHILDREN. The seventh annual conference of tho .Not Zealand Dental Association was commenced at tho Victoria Collego yesterday, about seventy mombers from all parts of tho Dominion attending. The president, Dr A. Paterson (Christchurch), occupied tho chair. The proceedings were .not open to tho press. Tho wholo of tho morning sitting was devoted to general association business, while tho afternoon was given up to papers and discussions. In tho evening tho president delivered his annual address to mombers at the Grand Hotel. Ho explained that it was in three sections. First, to the public; second, to tho medical profession; and, third, to tho dental profession. Tho section designed for the edification of tiie public was handed to tho press, tho following being a summary:, DEFECTIVE TEETH. In his opening remarks the president said statistics had proved that in civilised countries tho number of school children suffering from defective teeth numbered from 80 to 95.5 per cent. Ho would, therefore, impress upon the public tho great necessity for keeping the children constantly under the earo of a reliable dentist- All children.' should bo taken to a dentist when! three years old and every six monthsthereafter. If tho people had not th» means to pay for treatment, then it was the duty of tho State to make tho necessary provision. " Parents, as, a rule," ho continued, "are too prone' to look upon dental hygiene as unneces-' sarv and to consider tho services of a! ■dentist as a luxury. A great deal has

Ibeen said regarding the care of chil-'. 'dron's teeth, but not until every dentist in the Dominion drums t.nd drum* -this necessity into every mother's ears! year by year -will it ever mature and hear the fruit it should. It is an ap-. 'palling fact, but nevertheless true, Ithat last year the manufacturers of artificial teeth sold over 60,000,000, and 'when wo think that every one of these, 'went to replace a natural tooth, which! Iwith proper care and attention wouldl lhavo lasted a lifetime, I think you] Iwill liave to agree with me that it is 'a crving disgrace, if not even criminal. Unclean mouths and teeth .are mainly responsible for this. Now the question arises, how are we to prevent this state of things? NO GOVERNMENT SUPPORT. We need not look to the Government for anv support,' as they seem to bo doing their best to flood the country with incompetent men, and that cla.« ,of man thinks only of the £ s. d. which ihe can obtain for work which is thej ieasiest and quickest, quite regardless' jof the welfare of his patients- This is hot the raving of a disordered mind, but an absolute Tact, and it is one of tho things which prevent the public from having that high ideal of ilental profession that it deserves. Nowj it behoves, us to taho somo stops to obtain this desired end. One of thel Ifirst steps I woula suggest is thati dßiital wards should be established' in' jevery town where there is a public, .hospital. This can bo done at a very] Ismail expense, and, once established,, would ho more self-supporting than.' any .medical ward, and would be of as Imuch benefit to the people as anyj medical ward. In fact, if they word established and properly managed, we , would be able to do away with half the, (accommodation that is now needed, inj 'our public hospitals, as two-thirds of diseased conditions are caused or aggravated by the condition of humani imouths and teeth. I know it is a difli-|, cult task to try and instil this factj (into the minds of some of the mem-! 'hers of our Hospital Boards, as they jdo not seem to comprehend the im-l Iportance of this matter, which must! [eventually receive attention, as it has, already done, in the more progressive j [city of the North (Auckland)." ! OTHER SUGGESTIONS. •His second suggestion was. that a, (pamphlet should bo compiled by ■ tho N.Z.D.A. on tho care of tho mouth (and teeth, and it should bo distributed jbroadcast and given to every mother, ;and every teacher in tho land. Tha iteaohors should seo that every' child, 'received a proper course of teaching on the subject and also actual attention. Better that a child should know, how to look after its oral cavity, whichl was tho gateway of almost every disease, than even to know its English] grammar, for what was the use _ of, grammar when the body was continu-i ally in a state of disease? His third) suggestion was that the different local' societies should select men to deliver, lectures at intervals to the teaohera of all the public schools to enable) them in their turn to impart the knowdodge in a more comprehensive way to) jtheir pupils. It seemed somewhat in-; congruous that teachers should be sup-' posed to give lectures on oral hygiene,! when they as a class had not had the| opportunity to acquire even the most .rudimentary knowledge on the subject. There was a movement on foot, a year or eighteen months ago for t'he| lesamination of the teeth of school chil-. >dren. It seemed to have died a natural death, however, and he urged that it be again gono on with, until every ■pupil in every public school in the Dominion had "been examined. In conclusion, he said that during the South African war 28,000 soldiers were incapacitated through having defective teeth. ci It seems," he added, "scarcely necessary before a dental society _to further call attention to the necessity for this class of work, and we assume that there is no doubt in the minds of the profession as to its most urgent need." TO-DAY'S BUSINESS. This morning's session will be devoted to clinics. In the afternoon papers will be road and discussed. In the evening the association's annual banquet will be held at tho Grand Hotel. On Thursday the Wellington members will entertain visiting delegates at a social evening.