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OUR BABIES

|'BY HTGEU.I

Published under the auspices of the Koyui New Zealand Society lor ttio Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence «■' tno top of a preciiiicb than to maintain an wnbulance at the bottom."

HYGIENE OP MOUTH. AND TEETH. In 1909 a very important address, bearing on dental 'hygiene, was delivered by Dr. Sim Wallace at the annual nicotine ol the British Dental Association, held at Birmingham, and Dr. Wallace's views received tho hearty support, of lendins; repi'Cßcntatives at the Consresß. Tnc paper is one of such Eenernl interest and importance that I should have liked to reproduce :t practically unabridged; but lack of space prevents this, and I therefore give the following condensation. In order to make thejnatter clearer ami simpler for the general reader a few liberties have been taken with the text-cspeci-ally in the direction of oubstitutins simple popular words for scientific terms:—

ADDRESS BY DR. SIM WALLACE. "Most of us must often have wondered why it ia that so many professional people soon to take little interest in the hygiene of tho mouth, for the mouth :s admittedly the great entrance portal of disease. The natural self-cleansing processes of tliu mouth are, as a rule, unknown, and instead of aiding these seU-iJeoiieiiiE procefisc3 procedures are advocated which would really appear to have been deliberately inventod to ruin tho perfection of the mouth and its functions at tho earliest possible age. We, of course, as dentists see what actually take:) place, and are painfully awaro of the havoc wrought in children's mouths and teeth at and before the age of six."

Note By "Uygeia." The following ia adainuu from an, au-di-eas by l)r. i'iokenU, i'rolcaeor or 'Dentistry, Otago University:— Decay ot tecih is largely duo to errors ol ditt conimencing in liio mother before the' birth of her oßspring (see "The Story of the TeetiiT' , puUlißlied by Whitcombe and Tombs), and extendinE over the first 12 years of her ohild's life. It is just during this period that a medical man's advice is most often sought as to tho suitability or otherwise of articles of diet, and he then haa opportunities of pointing out authoritatively the injurious effects of common dietetic ' errors. This gives tho doctor a. great power to lessen tho prevalence of den. tal disease. Knowing what is beneficial and what is dcleteriouß to teeth, and putting Hub knowledffo into practice, ho will ho fulfilling the general-principles of correct dietetics—for it might bo stated in genoral terms that "what ifj best for the teeth is best for the rest of tho alimejitary system." Furthor, I need scarcely point out that what is best for the alimentary sys-tem-that is, for the proper nutrition and growth, of the body—is best for the whole human organism, both body and mind. See "Feeding and Care of the Baby," pages 146 to 152.

DR. WALLACE'S ADDRESS (Continued). It has been shown that, in Boine towns in England where accurate statistics have been Jaken that each child line on the average about riino carious teeth at tne age of six years. ' Note.—Pro'fcssor Pickerill said soon after hi 3 arrival in New Zealand that on tho average he found tho teeth of children in tho Dominion cvon woree than those at Home, due, ho-thought, mainly to tho excessive consumption of sweets. Recent investigation by our medical," inpector of school children have confirmed Drfl Pickerill's findings.

It is not possible to say that tho bad state of children's teeth results from failing to carry out tho advice as to feeding, which has generally been given to the present time, f.or it is common knowMge that children brought uu most carefully according to what has been regarded as the orthodox regime, hayo their teeth as carious as those children who have but little care bestowed upon thom. * Note By "Hygeia." ■ .

Tho cardinal error of tho past halfcentury !(as been the advocacy of milk, "muBU," and soft food generally, instead of insisting that a due proportion ..of hard', dry, or tough foods should too given from infancy onwards. Naturally, the cottage child who happens 10 bo fortunate enough to bo given bones and crusts form better jaws and teeth than tho pamperod child of wealthier paronts brought up on speoially-prepared eoft foods.

Tho more care parente bestow on their children tho hotter,, provided tho care- is sensible and in Iho right direction, but nothing is more injurious than tho common perverse form of caro directed towards shielding them from necessary work, and excrclßO. not only for tooth, and jaws, but for all the muscles of tho body; not only for tho muscles, indeed, but for every organ and tissue of the' body. The child who is given insufficient work for tho structures of the mouth is too often the child who is pampered and coddled all round,- guarded from .cool air and cold water, muffled from head to foot, Itopt indoors during rainy weather, and allowed to dawdle about instead of being encouraged to walU and play vigorously.

Bad Teeth Due to Bad Fccdine Hahits. "It ia not enough to recouniso that tho By6tem currently advocated will bring about tho destruction of tho teeth, and

then to blame fate or tho depravity of tno human constitution. Nor is it sufficient to (idvocate that children should bo taken to tho . dentist every six months. This practice is obviously necessary, and will always remain a wise precaution, however much things are improved; 'but it should bo distinctly realised that teeth do noi decay except when a faulty dietetic regime hae brought the mouth into 'an unhealthy state. The unhygenic regimen should b" rectified immediately, for an unhealthy Etate of the mouth not only spoils the teeth, but tends to ruin the child s general health as well. LAST FOOD AT. MEALS.

"There hae been of late an enormous amount of investigation as to tho so-called nutritlvo value of foods. This is, of course, important, but there is another equally important (luestion-namely: Is the food, broadly speaking, hygenic? Is it such as to conduco to health? • Tho nutritivo value of a pound of putrid meat may bo about as much as tho nutritive value of a pound of fresh meat; but from the hygienic point of view it may have a totally different value. So too, the value of. food which lodges and ferments in the mouth is quite different from that of food which is digested in tho stomach. In general the chemical composition, 01 so-called nutritivo value' of ordinary food has less inflnonce on the state of the teeth than lias I the structure or consistency of the food. Will it give enough exercise to jaws and glands? Will it leave tho mouth 'clean or 'dirty'? It is with regard to the value of certain articles of diet from the latter point, of vies that I intend to speak. _ "Now, it is obvious that tho hygienic Btato of tho mouth, in so far as it dcpende upon foods, depends more especially on what is taken towards tho end of tue meal, for it is the food that remains or lodges in tho mouth after the meal is over which fermente and causes the disastrous remilts to the teeth. It is not a matter of indifference, therefore, vhethor a meal be finished •with food which leaves the mouth clean or leaves it dirty. And, overlooked though it may have been, sorao foods do leaves the mouth clean and some leave the mouth dirty-or. rather, do not leave it at all until they havo undergone fermentation or putrefaction In the mouth. Thin is a simple, obvious, and important, P For' tho finish of a meal nothine is tetter than a piece of raw, ripo applo; wlulo nothing ie worse than nweets, chocolates, or biaouitn. (See "Feedine and Care ot tho Baby," page 143. "Apple rule. ).

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19181102.2.28

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,315

OUR BABIES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 5

OUR BABIES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 5

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