OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3316, 3 October 1917, Page 58

OUR BABIES.

By Hvgeia

Published under the auspices o! the Royal New* Zealand Society tor the Health ol Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top oi a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom."

CROOKEDNESS OF TEETH. "Mother of Three" writes from Canterbury as follows: "I am in great distress about my littlo girl's teeth, and wondered if you could, through tho medium- of tho Baby Column, givo me any advice that would help to relieve my anxiety, "My eider girl is six years old, and about two months ago shed her two bottom front teeth. I can just sec the saw-like tops of tho now ones peeping through, and one looks as if it will be behind the other, or in an oblique direction. Her first teeth are so splendid and even that I'm really worrying about the crookedness of her new ones. "I should like to know..: (1) If I had pulled the first teeth out when loose, instead of practically allowing them to drop out, would it have made any difference to the newcomers? (2) Is there anything that one can do now to remedy the defect? "I may say that my girl is strong ancL. healthy, and two months ago- weighed 3st S£lb, while her height is just off 4ft. She was breast-fed for three months (never had a'dummy), then had humanised milk with plenty of hard crusts, etc. —in fact, was brought up on the lines of the Plunkct Baby Book. " - "I have always studied the children's health in every possible way, and so fail to understand the reason of tho crooked teeth. Windows are open dav and night, and the children are out in afl weathers, and then they complain that they don't get enough fresh air. "Two yonaiger children also have splendid sots of teeth, and I'm now. wondering if thuir second teeth will come crooked like their sister's." REPLY. My feeling is that this mother ought to bo heartily congratulated on having done so well. There is not tho slightest ground for her fear that the permanent teeth of the two younger children will come through irregularly or obliquely because this happens to bo occurring in the case of some of the front teeth of the oldest child. Under tho feeding conditions of modern civilisation the jaws tend not to be big enough for the second set of teeth when they aro pushing their way up to replaca tho smaller milk teeth. It is quite natural that the mother should form the idea that the milk teeth offer an obstruction to the permanent teeth; but this is not usually, the case. A very beautiful provision of Nature is to be seen in the way in which the roots of the milk teeth are dissolved and absorbed until practically nothing but tho crown of tho tooth remains. This is why the natural shedding of the milk teeth is almost entirely painless. An open passage is left for the advancing permanent tooth by the root of the milk tooth melting away and being absorbed into the blood stream. Tho milk teeth ought not to ■ offer any obstruction to the coming through of the permanent teeth, but they may do so, and where there is any doubt it is best to consult a dentist. On tho other hand, the permanent teeth very often jostle one another in their rival efforts to secure their places in jaws which are not big enough to hold them without overlapping, or in extreme cases doublebanking. Where a tooth is thrown completely out of the lino and there are enough teeth to fill the jaw without it, it b sometimes necessary to remove the jostled tooth as superfluous; but such a decision should never be hastily arrived at, being always a matter for careful consideration by a first-rate dentist. EXTKACT FROM THE SOCIETY'S BOOK. I would strongly advise the mother to read carefully what is said on pages 135 to 133 of tho Society's Book (Feeding and - Care of Baby) as to the development of tho jaws and the proper eruption and placing of the teeth; and I may here quote the following passage: Dr Angle (tho great American dental authority) is strongly opposed to "pulling out teeth to make room." if avoidable. Ho shows how jaws which had failed to develop properly have been made to grow in a marvellous way by coaxing or forcing the jostled teeth into tho "working line." Tho way to make jaws which aro not largo enough grow sufficiently is to give them, through the teeth, enough work to do —the stimulus of extra work inducing increased blood supply and extra growth of bone. In infancy the mother has the golden opportunity for building mode! jaws, by giving tho child bones to munch and gnaw, and dry, hard, or tough food to eat. Even the jaws of lads entering tha Nav3' used to become bigger as the result of having "hard tack" (ship's bis euits, etc.) to work on. I have seen a small boy quite toothless owing to starchy foods, little fat or flesh-formers, and no hard food. NO NEED FOB ANXIETT.

Our correspondent is a little disappointed because, in spite of all the care she has taken, the second teelii are not as regular as they should be. This may be merely accidental, and may not be due to any lack of room, in which case the teeth would bo vcrv readily got into proper position with a little assistance from the dentist: but considerable time will be required if there is any decided deficiency in the size of the jaws.

The natural question the mother wotdd ask is : —Wherein have I failed in regard to this matter —what more could I have done? The only thing 1 can is that under the most ideal conditions for the full growth of mouth and jaws during infancy the baby would be suckled for full nine months, instead of three months. Breastfeeding always entails much more work for the mouth and surrounding parts than the best of bottle-feed.inGr, and extra work means increased blood supply, and consequentlv more vigorous growth of all the parts involved. In the present case, to make up for lost time, the best, course to pursue is to get the child to do as much work as possible in the way of chewing and thorough mastication of food which requires active work dono on it before it is swallowed. Wo realise, from what the mother says, that she

has been pursuing tho right course in tlii-3 connection, end all one can suggest is patience and perseverance. The worst course to pursue would be to resort to papfeeding. The making- of both tho ivory and tho enamel of the permanent teeth is effected mainly in tho first three years of life, iso our correspondent, need not doubt her powers to ensure a sound and perfect set of teeth.

These matters sire fully discussed in all their bearing in the Society's Book, and tho mother should certainly load the section headed "Far-reaching Effects of Masticating Exercise," pages 146 to 148. I thjiik it may prove encouraging to tho mother to mention a case in my own experience in which the front teeth showed thfl tendency sho mentions —there was decided obliquity. However, in tho course of only a fortnight the dentist, by a simple mechanical contrivance which gave tho child very littlo discomfort, set everything right, and tho child now ha 3 quite ideal jaws and teeth.

As wo havo indicated, the little girl should be.taken at once to a first-rate dentist. I think he would confirm all I havo said.