Diet and Dentistry.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20311, 22 May 1934, Page 6

Diet and Dentistry.

Dear Sir.—Children’s teeth have improved so much through careful investigation by competent authorities that by following a certain set of rtiles of well-balanced diet with the periodical overhaul (which is also of necessary importance) the vicious attacks of foreign destructors have lost their wrecking-power. The improper feeding of animals will cause the teeth to become poorly formed, but proper diet will lead to an improvement in the structure of the teeth and this may stop decay altogether. According to the Public Health Association, it is not possible to state that the tooth decay is due to a lack of any single food in a certain diet. Investigations seem to show, however, that a stratagem in diet does have benefit in preventing decay. There are evidently other factors that play a part in keeping the teeth strong and sound. Heredity may have some influence. An unclean mouth and failure to brush the teeth and keep them clean seem to be elements of importance. But tooth decay may win even though the mouth and teeth are kept clean. And *o, to keep the teeth strong and sound it is not only necessarv that the proper diet be used, but, in addition, cleanliness should be maintained with an ever-increasing intensity.—l am, etc., THOMAS LAWSON.