PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM
A good deal has been written and spoken since the war began about the measures adopted by the Government to deal with, the dental defects of recruits. Modern science has emphasised with increasing stress tha closeness of the connection between good teeth and good health, and as soon as the recruiting campaign had begun in real earnest tho military authorities saw that the dental problem would have to be grappled with. The opportunity for national service thus presented to the dentists of New Zealand evoked a most enthusiastic response. The Government was at first rather slow in accepting its full responsibility, but it soon became evident that this matter would have to be dealt with in a big way, and eventually a schemc was evolved and set in operation for the dental treatment of recruits. It is satisfactory to i know that this scheme is now working well. The report of the proceedings of the Dental Conference, which met in Wellington this week, states that "as the scheme has worked so far satisfactorily, members arc ready and willing to carry it on." An'article which appeared in yesterday's issue of The Dominion gave publicity to some striking facts regarding the fine ,work gratuitously performed by the dentists for our Expeditionary Forccs. It is a record of which they have good reason to be proud, and they deserve the thanks of the community for the ungrudging services they have rendered to the Empire by making hundreds of able-bodied men fit to fight who would otherwise have been unfit to send to tho front owing to the unsoundness of their teeth. The work has been organised in a thorough manner, and it has been carried through iru a. generous spirit. In Timaru, for instance, the dentists for a whole week devoted themselves exclusively to recruits, and refused all private practice. This is an illustration of tho patriotic ardour of the dentists as a body throughout ilia Dominion. In various ways the same enthusiastic spirit has manifested itself. An experienced member of the profession estimates that the work done by tho dentists for our soldiers represents £5003". This is a handsome gift to the Empire, and reflects the greatest orodit on tho givers.
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2780, 26 May 1916, Page 4
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371PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2780, 26 May 1916, Page 4
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