PROTECTIVE DENTISTRY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 89, 3 February 1947, Page 8

PROTECTIVE DENTISTRY

(By the Department of Health) The prevention of dental caries is bound up with the adoption of sound balanced diet for the expectant mother, for the infant, and for the growing child. Not enough people know about this, or if they know, they do not practise it, and we go on getting dental caries. But having cut our teeth, at least we can save them as long as possible from holes. This is called protective dentistry. Do you remember the old slogan, “A clean tooth will not decay”? Time went on, folk cleaned their teeth, and still they decayed. So the clean tooth cult failed. And yet there was truth in the saying. Caries does result from the action )f acid forming when starchy, sugary foods, ferment alongside the enamel. But at first this process is microscopic. So that a tooth surface which is not free from microscopic amounts of fermentable foodstuff is liable to decay. The toothbrush by itself cannot achieve the necessary state of cleanliness, for it fails tp reach the deep fissures and to get between teeth. The toothbrush stimulates gums and cleans accessible surfaces. Something else has to be done, where it cannot reach. Firstly prophylactic fillings are needed to eliminate deep cracks, and secondly, by keeping a high polish and smoothness between teeth, holes here are discouraged on these surfaces. This should be done at least every six months.

Protective dentistry will save your teeth. It means these things for your child. Frequent and'systematic attention to the of teeth —the regular and correct use of the toothbrush: thorough dental examina tion, at least twice a year, with special attention to between teeth surfaces; the insertion of prophylactic fillings in second teeth before holes occur, to fill up deep clefts; the polishing of every tooth to a smooth surface at not less than six-month-ly intervals. Such protective dentistry will retard caries. See that your child has this type of dental care, either at the school dental clinic, or at your own dentist’s rooms.