The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1911. THE CHILDREN’S TEETH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 28, 18 September 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1911. THE CHILDREN’S TEETH.

At the recent sitting of the British Medical Conference, that important subject—the prevention of dental caries—was discussed at some length. Dr. James Wheatley, who introduced the subject, said that from a public health standpoint the extreme importance of the subject depended on the extraordinary and increasing pro- ■ valence of the condition which had reached such a point that it became a disgrace to a civilised nation if every reasonable effort were not made to suppress it. There were three prinipal reasons for this increase—namely, that until recently no public body had considered the prevention of the condition ; the medical profession, which was the adviser of the public on All questions of personal hygiene, lias been profoundly ignorant of this matter; while the dental profession had not come in contact with the people as a whole, and, generally speaking, had not been engaged in preventive ■work. He urged that al knowledge of the hygiene of the mouth should form part of the training of every medical man, so that he should thoroughly understand the effect upon,the teeth of every deviation from physiological 1 living and of pathological conditions, and also the effect on general

health' of diseased conditions of the mouth. The great cause of dental caries was the retention of starchy food in contact with the teeth, and the practical questions to bo decided were how to form proper habits of mastication and how food should be prepared and oaten so as to leave the teeth clean. The great hope for the future in this respet was to be found in the medical inspection and instruction of school children, and as county school medical officer for Shropshire lie had issued and circulated in the schools a pamphlet dealing with the matter. Mr Hopewell Smith described x number of experiments he had carried out on the effect of 'sweetmeats on the secretions of the mouth. Ho showed that the presence of sugar in solution in the saliva in association with even a few of the caries-producing bacteria rendered the saliva, acid, and it was under these conditions that the

superficial changes which led to caries were set up. At the close of the debate the following resolution was moved by Sir \ ictor Horsley and catn’od unanimously:—“That the Council of the Association lie requested to urge upon the Board of Education the need of pressing the local authorities to establish school clinics, as being the only means whereby the dental and medical needs of elementary school children can be adequately and economically treated.” It is certainly evident that dental troubles are increasingly prevalent in Britain as well osin Anstrali.u and New Zealand, and it is apalling to contemplate what a very toothless people wo shall become in flic course of another genei alien 01 so, unless some real remedy is discovered.