CHILDREN S TEETH

Wanganui Chronicle, 2 August 1947, Page 6

CHILDREN S TEETH

SPECIAL SURVEY BEING UNDERTAKEN IN N.Z. (P.A.) Wellington, Aug. 1. A survey of the dental condition of children between the ages of 13 and 16, conducted chiefly through schools, i s being instituted by the Dental Committee of the Medical Research Council. Children in this age group who have lived from birth in the same locality, estimated to be about one-third of the total, will be examined by research officers. Each child will be X-rayed to find even incipient cases of dental caries. Children who have been lifelong residents in the tame locality will be selected, so as to assess the importance of regional variations in the mineral content of the soil and drinking water. In the adolescent age group the susceptibility to dental caries is most pronounced. Calcium requirements of the average person were greater between the ages of 13 and 16 than at any other time in life, said Dr. R. E. T. Hewat, who is organising the dental field research. Parents should realise the need for reinforcing the diet with an abundance of calcium-contalning foods, especially milk and milk pioducts Milk was actually more Important to an adolescent than to a school child who received his daily bottle. ~ ... The survey will determine the differences in degree or prevalence of dental caries, and will . cover all the factors involved, hygiene, nutrition and even psychology. Comparative variations in those children resident in different districts in New Zealand will indicate what materials are needed to prevent or lower dental decay, and which increase susceptibility. While field officers under Dr. Hewat will do the practical investigation on New Zealand teeth, and the scientific and theoretical side of the work will also be attended to. Experimental research is being carried out at the Otago University Dental School, under the direction of the dean. Dr. J. P. Walsh. The facilities are being steadily improved. The lines of the inquiry suggested by the survey will be scientifically investigated in the laboratories there.