OUR BABIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 139, 2 September 1927, Page 5

OUR BABIES

By

Hygeia.

Published under the auspices of the Rcyal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

During the course of the next few weeks we shall publish several short talks given on various occasions by Plunket nurses to mothers, in the belief that they will prove interesting and useful to our readers. THE STORY OF THE TEETH AND HOW TO SAFEGUARD THEM This subject may sound dry and uninteresting, and you may wonder how it can be made at all worth listening to; but most things can be made interesting if we can get into the very heart of them. The subject of the teeth is now engrossing the attention of all workers for public health, as well as the dentists, because so very many diseases are now traced to decayed teeth, and because so much suffering and bad health could be avoided if only the public realised the importance of good teeth, and how to safeguard them. Hitherto the matter lias not been urgent, for, a generation or so ago people lived hardier lives, food was simpler and more healthful, and the teeth did not decay in the wholesale manner of the present day. The examination of recruits for the Great War opened peoples’ eyes to some of the truth, and it began to be realised that good teeth or otherwise are not just a matter of personal comfort or discomfort, but a matter of national importance. How and When the Teeth Grow The tooth is a living thing, pulsating with life—not a cold, dead, lifeless thing. The story of a tooth is fascinating, and the more one studies it the more one realises that the work is far beyond man’s work. Man may make an excellent imitation, which may last for years with careful treatment. but it lacks the one tiling which makes perfection—the life running through it. When baby is born, lying hidden under the gums, are all the first teeth, almost completed and ready for use later on; while the second set are begun. This being so, it is certainly too late to start caring for baby’s teeth after he is born. Beginning at the Beginning Seven months before the baby is ready for birth work is commenced on the tiny first set of teeth. This, at the latest, is the time to start. We know that teeth are made wholly from blood, which takes to all parts of the body nourishment from the food we eat and from the air we breathe. It is the mother’s blood which builds the baby’s first teeth, so we must pay all our attention now to the motlier-to-be. What the Mother-to-be Can Do for Her Baby’s Teeth Fortunately the things she needs the most are the easiest things to get and do. Nature never intended us to pay a high price for health; it is a free gift; all we have to do is to follow Nature’s laws. The mother, to keep her blood pure and nourishing, must have fresh air. sensible food, sensible clothing, walks every day, be as happy and free from worry as she can, do her usual work, and all that a woman does who lives a normal, healthy life. Specially she must eat some fresh fruit and vegetables and take some milk and butter every day. She must eat brown bread rather than white, and drink abundance of plain water. She must also avoid any tendency to constipation. Now let us study the growth of a tooth from the beginning of its life—one of the 20 little ivory domes. The Ivory Builders A little regiment of cell workers has taken its place in the gum, and begins work on ivory. The crown of the tooth-to-be is like the bowl of a tiny eggeup turned upside down, and on the inside of this the ivory builders make a thick, strong, white wall. The Enamel Builders This is another little squad of cell workers busy on the outside of the tiny eggeup, covering the ivory with enamel—beautful, strong and white. No slurring work is ever done by these cell workers, but the perfection and durability of the building depends on the materials at their disposal, that is, on the purity and quality of the mother’s blood; and this in turn depends on the life she leads and the food she eats during the eventful nine months before baby is born. As the time goes on the little dome becomes more and more complete, until, when baby comes to town, it is all but finished, except for the roots, which are completed by the time it comes to be used, six or seven months later. This is a “Milk Tooth.” But what a wrong idea, when we know it is made from the mother's blood, and is completed before milk can have anything to do with it. The Permanent Teeth The 32 little squads of cells for building the second teeth also assemble at their stations seven months before baby is born, but they do not set seriously to work until about the time o! birth. Then they spring to attention, and begin to build for all they are worth. Now conditions are very different. No longer does the mother’s blood

supply the needed nourishment; the workers must be supplied with materials from the baby’s own blood. The only perfect and ideal building materials are supplied by the mother’s milk, in spite of the fact that many babies may have good teeth though fed by bottle or on cow’s milk. Jaw Work Something is needed to make the blood flow freely to the jaws, so that the cell workers may have a good supply of materials. The exercise of suckling at the breast is perfect for this, and nothing can be quite so good: but if baby must be bottle fed the teal should have a small hole, and the bottle should be held. After baby is weaned he must always have the greatest pos sible amount of hard food, which needs chewing. Proper food must be sent to the cell workers in the proper way, so that the gums may be full of pure, living blood. The Coming of the Second Teeth What happens now? While the second set of teeth has been growing, the roots of the first, which were not enamelled, have been gradually absorbed into the blood stream, and have grown shorter and shorter. Now. when the permanent teeth push up in the gums, the little first teeth, on lop, not held fast by anything, fall out quite easily and painlessly. Next week, we will give the rest of this talk on the teeth, which shows the reverse side of the picture, and points out what should be done.