DENTAL DECAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 14

DENTAL DECAY.

1 1 3 ORAL HYGIENE IN PRIMARY * j SCHOOLS. » ! DR PIOKERILL AND THE EDUCA--1 I TIONAL INSTITUTE. I•' Dr H. P. Piokerill, head' of the Denta , School at the Otago University, had £ , large and deeply-interested audience at the ■ Town Hall on the sth, when he delivered an ; t address on the teaching of dental and ora! '. ' hygiene in primary schools, before the New . Zealand Educational Istitute. The President (Mr William Newton) saic . that last year he and Mr Davidson liac l • gone to the Denral School. l>ut this yeai , , the Dental School had come to them. He . i tendered a hearty welcome to Dr Pickerill. : He could assure him that the teachers were I ! anxious to further every effort for the welfare of the children. Dr Pickerill piefaoed his remarks by quoting the- recent words of a dental surgeon on the staff of King's College Hospital, after an extended examination of Londpn school children : — , I next selected from my charts those which showed the largest amount of oral sep3is and sent the names of the children to the head mttteter in order to find out from him how they stood as regarded their ■school work, and he reported that in nearly all cases they were below the average <>f "" their ages, awd in some oases markedly so. These woidfe, eaid D*r Pi«kerill, were pregnant with warning, and he bad , put them in the forefront of his paper as being likely ;to arrest attention and to show at once the appropriateness of his subject to members of the profession of teaching. He did not wjsh to introduce anything fresh or ' extensive into their already somewhat crowded, but albeit excellent, syllabus -but would merely , indicate specifically a branch of teaching .which was most strangely j omitted, but which was covered and implied Iby the regulation- "The lessons on the structure of the body are intended, not as a course in physiology, but solely to serve the practical purpose of am introduction to such knowledge of the laws of health as every individual of the community ought to possess." It must be obvious that the " laws of health " included attention to oral hygiene, seeing how vastly health was affected by dental diseases and defects. Again, the regulations directed that feaching efoould be imparted on the subjects of , food, drink, digestion, etc., but without i mention of the important role played by i mastication in these important functions. J Without definite attention being drawn to I the subject, it was inevitably overlooked. His object was to point out tha>t, in order to make their regulations and teaching rationally complete and effective, the subject of the teeth and oral hygiene could not be omitted. That was not a subject purely academic in interest or a matter which could be indefiniteTv postponed until time and eh mcc afforded an opportunity for ita introduction into our schools. It was a thing Which was crying aloud for their help. It concerned a problem which they as c profession had a greater opportunity of helping to solve than any obher members or elate of the community. The teeth of the chikhen of this generation were fast rotting away, and with them must inevitably go bbc physical and menial wellbeing. The mere absence of an efficient masticating apparatus counted for much physioal debility, but the poisons, toxins, and germs ingested with the destruction of the teeth accounted for a terrible amount of ill-health and pain of body and mind. Ninety per cent of their children were afflicted with dental disease in various stages. The civilised world was gradually awakening- to these facts. Dr Osier. Professor of Medicine at Oxford, who had exer<oised his unrivalled powere of observation in England, America, and Canada, stated tihat more physical deterioration was due to j defective teeth than to alcohol. Effects of the latter were open, of the former invisible, slower, and therefore far more dangerous. Sir .John T»eedy, a pv«sjde!nt of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: — "Possibly no sins-te thins; is more inimical to physical well-baing (especially in young people) than are defects and diseases of the teeth." The j Royal Commission on Physical Degenere}ion sitting in England a short time aeo ' ound that dwital defects were an extremely potent factor in tho physical degeneration oi the children of England. When they refumed to their schools they would find ihat the children with the most marked oral sepsis and dental defects would be undef the average weight, lower than they ought to be in tlbeir classes, and more unhealthy \» appearance than the other ohildjen,. P* Pie Will went on to cay that if food was not digested absorniloa became limited, And the general nutrition of the child failed,. i Besides thjg negative action there was a positively deleterous aot-ion by the pus, or- j ganisms, and toxins, the inevitable cOnee- | quenee of dental disease in ita advanced < stages. These, ingested with the food, might be absorbed into the ciroulatory system, and | so give rise to what wa* really a chronic j b'ood-poteoning. Poisoned blood failed in | ife functions, hence the child became , aiitemic, the brain, was deprived of pure oxygen, and the child went to the bottom <jf the class. The great fundamental foot teachers had to realise was that they could noj K*t mors out of a schojar wii wae put in, and «• starved bram could not foadily develop. It might be slimujate'd to action for a enorfc time* but It Jntfafc, sooner or later break oow». jDen'tei qefeote wet* too ofteA j^6poftsibie for the (Weldpittoht of enlarged tos«i'ls, due- parily to the imteiyj; effcci pf the fceptlo &a#ev> And also o| t£o &i*row4c2 u«6&] oattfckfi ij\ tnaoy caiej

I ! function of the teeth as a masticating, ! crushing and guiding apparatus was t rapidly being forgotten. It did not seem , to occur to people that they were paying a high price for their food to be prepared m artificial mi'ils, whilst totally neglecting the machinery of Nature, which, becoming j ruinous, the owner had to pay severely for t repair. Some fibrous, hard food was neoesi sary for liio proper development of the { jaws and the natural cleansing of the j teeth. If the jaws did not develop the T teeth became crowded together end irregularly placed, and the nasal cavities did not I develop. They had physical amd health 1 anil — an exercise for developing nasal . breathing. This was undoubtedly beneficial , in certain eases, but in many cases it was ' of no use whatever when the nasal cavities s had not developed, because the jaws are . narrow and the roof of the mouth very high. Be believed that a fotm of jaw . drill would in th«se very numerous oases ! be far more efficient in expanding the nasal . cavaties, and so obviating the growth of [ tonsilitie, besides dtoing away with the round back, flat chest, and dull expressions. , Dr Pickerill, by means of diagrams, proceeded to give a very hirid illustration of ' the gradual decay of teeth by acids emanating from biscuit and chocolate adhering to cavities in the crown of the teeth. The remedy he would propose was that they, as teachers, should receive some instruction or ; read up the subject (not a very large, though such an important One), and 1 that questions should be set in their papers on hygiene ; that they should impart 'this knowledge to the children systematically. Was that asking them to undertake too much? They would be gainers in the end, ■in having healthier, brighter, and more intelligent scholars. It need not take up much of their school hours ; two or three half-hours in each term would be sufficient. It would be necessary for each school to be supplied with a set of diagrams, such as those before them, but he thought that there would be no difficulty in getting 1 the authorities to supply them, provided they were assured that they would be systematically used. Dr Pickerill outlined the sort of lesson which might be suitable: — Lesson I. — Normal tooth, enamel, dentine, bone, pulp, and nerve ; obviously made for grinding 1 , not for sticking, squeezing, or squashing. II. — Soft, sticky food adheres to teeth and then ferments. Explain later how acid forme. Acid dissolves enamels 111. — Microbes from mouth get in »acid. destroy bon*> of tooth, causing inflamed nerve end toothache. . IV. — The nerve dies, and is replaced by a 1 mass of putresoemt material, and abcesses form at the root- of the teeth, constantly being discharged into the mouth and being swallowed. , I. — The remedy. 1 : Eat hard, fibrous 1 food, whole meal bread, porridge, crusts, fruit, meat. 2: Avoid biscuits, soft white ■ bread, chocolates, caramels, and lollies generally. 3 : Aid Nature by cleansing the I teeth every night before going to bed. ■ Explain best form of tooth brush and method of using. 4 : Use simple dentrifice, such as chalk or whiting and borax. Rules for hygiene of the mouth were set forth on the diagrams as under: — 1: Do not eat soft, sticky food, such as biscuits, eoft white bread, chocolate, carajnele, etc. 2 : Eat whdlemeal bread, meat, fiah, poultry, vegetables, fruit, etc. 3 : Do not drink while eating. 4 : Brush the teeth night and morning. 5 : Brush all surfaces of th« teeth. 6: Use a Httle chalk and borax on. the brush. 7 : Perfectly clean teeth camnot decay. As a. hint, "srugar consumed per capita in 1905 " was set forth : New Zealand 108.-641' be; United States, 92.56; Great I Britain, 77.83 ; surplus New Zealand over , Great Britain 30.81. pv Piokerill went on to suggest that tAey i might cultivate the power of observation in children by makjng- them observe how th« teeth of domestic animals were admir--1 ably adapted to their needs. No child was too young to receive instruction. Save th« milk teeth, And! they would probably save the permanent teeth. It was too much. j^erliApa, +0 ask them to inspeot iite oliil--1 idren'e teeth, but he presumed that if a ' boy come to school With an obviously un- ' washed face it would cause comment. H* thought that with no trouble but a little observation children cottjd be kept up to the mark In the matter of teeth. Undoubtedly a large share of such instruction aha supervision was trie duty of the parents, but they could not reach them and could fiot rouse them. The most they could hope for was that if such a courae of instruction 'be diligently pursued now, when present I $oholars became parents they would realise I ifcheir responsibility and relieve the teachers of tiioir work; but untjl then he would appeal to theni to tajce thij matter up eeriottejy for echalastdo reasons, for the relief of much pain and illness, but, moreover and abpve all, for patriotic reAeona. Dr Pickerill went on to touch on the rejection of young men for the army and hAyy owing to defective teeth, not a mere quibble, and he said, if a man was unfitted for either of the sSrvJpes he was juet as much unfitted for any other work, trade, or profession. The appointment of State-paid denial surgeons to our public schools might become necessary to stem the ev'er-advafac-ing tide of dental disease, but it was a rneV aufe of expediency, only It was wrong in nci&le. It fcaa, he believed, the duty of JHifi-to to teach the community the laws health fchq to 60$ thai thesg are pl>eyed U& <ta possible) Sup he did Hop tpiok It J tO the pest lntereftj* of the #j{lare4l yl

lessen both the child's and the parents' sense of responsibility. To them, as teachers, was committed, to a large extent, the moulding of future generations If they would see the best result of their labours they could not afford ro neglect the T.eaohing" of denial and oval hvgienc in their ecnools. speakers expressed tnemscives jjroally indebted to the lecturer. I Mr Murray said he resetted he could not join in ibis cirace of thanks. The doctor had told them of the evil eft'ccis of sugar. He (Mr Murray) had been accustomed to cat sugar with treacle jradaing all his life. If the doctor would take away the sugar and leave him fho treacle pudding, or vicetersa.. he would see what he could do, but if the doctor took av»ay both — well, life would not be worth living. — (Laughter.) To show that he ha-.! no real ill-feeling against the do:tor he \rould move: — "That this meeting 01 teachers, having heard of the initiation of a campaign by Dr Pickerill for more attention to be paid to tho dental hygiene now being taught in our schools, wishes him every success in his effort." In seconding this Miss Grant (North Canterbury) asked what effect tobacco had upon the teeth. ' In reply to questions, Dr Pickerill, regarding the hsrmfulness of sugar, said it depended on the nature of the sugar. Sugar in sweetmeats" and pastry adhered to the teeth and did harm, bat &i&ar in solution did little harm to the teeth. Slome people held that tobacco killed the microbes in the , mouth, but that we* a question on which ' scientists differed, and different experimenters got different results. A hearty vote of thanks to Dr Picker m ■was accorded, on the motion of Mr J. H. Harkness, B.A.