CHILDREN’S TEETH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8190, 3 August 1912, Page 10

CHILDREN’S TEETH

Tho following extract from Dr Pickerill’s address before the Education Commission is of Interest to all mothers:—

Dr Pickeiill said that the motto, "Mens sana in corpora sano" might very well be reduced to "Dens sana mens sana"—sound teeth sound mind —for the health of teeth was necessary to the health of the children. It was a remarkable thing, but investigations in older countries had gone to show that the children with the most healthy mouths usually surpassed the rest of their less fortunate fellows in school work. It had been found that efficiency in this respect increased from 60 to 70 per cent, where remedial measures were carried put in time with children with carious teeth. “When I came here some five years ago," said the professor, "I found the conditions of teeth in this country simply appalling in the universality of decay. The extent of dental disease in this country, especially among children, is absolutely astounding. I do not think I have seen a single child in this country with a prefectly healthy month of teeth.” In answer to questions by different members of the Commission, Dr Pickerill stated that he attributed the cause of the disease largely to faults in the diet customary in New Zealand—the over use of starchy, soppy. food, and the under use of vegetables and fruit. Ho had been simply astounded at the small use made generally in New Zealand of vegetables. There were, of course, concomitant causes, but diet was the chief reason. For instance, the people of Australasia were the groatest meat eaters in the world, and they had by far the worst teeth in the world. The people who ate the least meat and generally lived on a vegetable diet showed the least prevalence of caries, notably some of the people of Asia. The people of Australasia wont in for an over-luxurious diet, tmd had abandoned the simpler regimen of their ancestors, and the consequence was seen in tho wretched state of their teeth.