N.Z. DENTAL CLINICS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 146, 16 March 1939, Page 6

N.Z. DENTAL CLINICS

Visitor From New York

Impressed CARE OF THE TEETH AN IMPORTANT DUTY “I have inquired into what »your dentists and Government are doing in connexion with the children’s teeth, and I want to say, as one who has this matter very much at heart, that 1 think they are doing a good job," said Dr. Thaddeus P. Hyatt, of New York, formerly head of the dental clinic of the Metropolitan Insurance Company, who is visiting Wellington. "I have also seen the beginnings of the new clinic the Government is building in upper Willis Street, which tells me that the good work is to go on. I am inclined to think that care of the teeth among young people is one of the most important duties we have, and 1 am always prepared to stress that view, as it means so much to the health and general welfare of the generations to come. "Do you know how much of the trouble starts?” asked Dr. Hyatt. Witn that he pulled out a pencil, on which was mounted, at the opposite end to the lead point, an artificial tooth, a reproduction of the first lower jaw molar, the first permanent tooth, which comes when a child is about six years of age. On one side of the tooth was a speck of gold, which he indicated. Dr. Hyatt said that between SO and 90 per cent, of people were born with a tiny hole in their first molar. It was so small that it was often difficult to locate with the point of a needle, but it was worth looking for, as that was where tooth decay often commenced la the mouth of a boy or girl. That cavity should be found and stopped if trouble was to be averted early in life. Only too often the precaution was not taken, and so it was found that by the time children began to emerge into young manhood or womanhood their teeth were a source of trouble, if thej' were not an actual disfigurement,' affecting the health of the body and sometimes of the mind.

What has pleased Dr. Hyatt perhaps more than anything, was to learn on meeting Colonel Hunter and other Government officials connected with dentistry that Government action urged by the dentists was largely based on the conclusions arrived at by the practical investigations made by the Metropolitan Insurance Company of the United States. “No practising dentist, or group of dentists would ever be able to spare the time for such research,” said Dr. Hyatt. “In any case they would never be able to afford the staff of mathematicians and statisticians who were at the command of the Metropolitan Company to compile the data that was made available to the whole of the world. It was good to learn that so much had been doue for humanity, though, of course, it was only done at first on the score of improving the efficiency of the staff. Dr. Hyatt has been on a trip round the world. He left New York for London, and after a spell in Europe he went on to India, and from there to Australia. Now he is about to return to New York by way of Honolulu, San Francisco and California. He came to New Zealand in order to see his sister, Mrs. James Fabling, Rodrigo Street, Kilbirnie. Dr, Hyatt says that his visit to New Zealand has been a very pleasant experience, and he leaves the country with very favourable impressions of it and its people.