THE TEETH.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160734, 21 August 1920, Page 7

THE TEETH.

NATIONAL DIET AND THE PREVENTION OF., DENTAL DISEASE. (Published Under the Authority of the Education Department). The last publication of this series drew attention to the great danger to the teeth of growing children, arising from the unrestricted consumption of sugar. Tire present article will deal with other classes of foods which are injurious to the teeth and will conclude by indicating those foods which best guarantee the successful preservation of both the temporary and the permanent teeth. For many years those qualified ;to speak authoritatively on this matter have declared dental disease to be easily avoidable, and have proved the magnitude of the trouble in these modern Times to be due largely to errors in diet and the failure to appreciate the fact that certain foods produce a free How of healthy saliva, which is tire natural and unquestionably the most efficient means of maintaining the mouth in an hygienic condition. White bread, sweet biscuits and cake, sloppy porridge and puddings, bread and marmalade, bread and jam, sweets, chocolate, cocoa and tea all tend to leave the mouth in a condition favourable to fermentation of particles of food remaining on arid between the teeth. Acid is iformed from this fermentation with the result that the enamel is decalcified or softened and rapid decay of the tooth substance commences. It is hoped that it will not be long before white bread is banished from the diet of growing children and brown or wholemeal bread substituted. Apart from the question of formertation, the consumption of bread made from refined Hour means the children arc not receiving the essential substances of the living grain which are necessary for the nourishment and proper growth of their bodies, as thesb have been extracted during the preparation of the flour. Disrobe "+'■-» than the plain wholemeal kind are easily fermentable in the mouth and when sweetened are still more undesirable on, this account. Porridge should be made from oatmeal as stiff as the child can take it, the idea beine- to encourage mastication and eliminate the practice of gulping this food so common with most young children. Chocolate, cocoa and tea taken as beverages all tend to check the flow of saliva, thus aiding the process of fermentation of whatever food remains clinging to the tooth after food. Fortunately there is an easy remedy for conditions of stagnation of the mouth after food. Fresh fruit, esnwi ally orange and apple, will produce an immediate and copious flow of saliva, and as it is recognised that all foods which aro injurious to the teeth can rot be readily banished from the average diet of to-day, parents should make sure that such foods are followed bv Afresh fruit.

:j Apples are cheap and plentiful in tlxis country and the effect of a piece of this ripe fruit at the end of a meal is highly beneficial in preventing fermentation and in cleaning the teeth It is pointed out that the talcing of food at all hours, which is so common with children in most families, is very undesirable, and such a practice not only favours fermentation and n/- ;i mation in the mouth, but also entails the_ constant flow of the digestive juices which become weakened in strength and nstricted in quantity. Wholemeal or brown bread, toast, crusts, boiled fiah, soup, butter, green vegetables and fresh fruit are all articles of what may be termed an hygienic diet—that is, they encourage an adequate supply of healthy saliva. It must be understood, that it is advisable that in all cases fresh fruit should end the meal. Children are very adapt able and a proper regime with regard to ihe rational consumption of food is not difficult to establish. All robust children from the time they are in possession of their temporary molars should be restricted to three meals a day. As the infant passes from the purely -milk to the more 'solid diet the milk should be np>r© and more diluted with water. A dietary embracing the three daily meals is given below and 1 the food* selected from those enumerated i-ip ensure adequate, nourishment to the growing child, with sufficient mastication. It will be understood that variations in the number, kind and quantity of foods will be observed ing to the age of the child. The ages considered range from two to twelve years. BREAKFAST.—Porridge (made from oatmeal) rus stiff as possible or Granose made in a similar manner. Toasted brown bread and butter (never hot but tered toast), well cooked or toasted bacon, milk and water or 1 plain water. Fresh fruit, as a piece of orange ol apple. DINNER.—Oven-dried brown bread with butter, meat, toiled fisb, or poul try. Cooked vegetables; uncooked vegetables such ■as lettuce, cress, radish, celery. Milk pudding. Baked apple or fresh fruit as a piece of apple or orange. Soup if given should bevege table soup by preference. TEA.—Porridge or Gianose (made as Shove) or occasionally milk pudding, toasted or oven-dried brown bread and butter. Milk and water or plain water. Fresh fruit as a piece of orange or apple. Eggs lightly boiled should b© given only very sparingly until after two years of age. Meat is not considered necessary up to two years of age, but may be added later. Grated cheese on toast or with other foods is easily digested by children. Sugar, jam and honey should be restricted to a minimum, honey being preferable to the former. Quite recently at a public meeting of three days duration at Manchester under the auspices of the food Education Society of Great Britain, the fact that Jewish children had better teeth than Gentile was attributed to differences in diet, an important factor being the Jews use of oil instead of sugar. Dr James Wheatley, the county and school medical officer for Shropshire, produced a record of investigations in the elementary schools of that country showing that the restriction of the sugar supply during the war, the altered character of the bread, and the reduced consumption of milk had been accompanied by a remarkable dimin.iiticn of dental caries.

Parallel with the attention to a rational or hygienic diet care must he displayed in the choice arid preparation cf foods in order that those substances which have been found by experiment to be necessary to the proper growth of the body, -hall not be either absent or destroyed by heat in over-cooking. This question of the ‘‘Yitamines," as these substances are called, will form the subject of the next publication in Ibis series.