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Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1927, Page 2

It is said that many English people referred to the New Zealanders in. the war as the men with wristlet watches ami false teeth. The idea embodied herein, that English teeth are hotter than New Zealand, received startling confirmation in a report furnished to the British Board of Education hy Dr Wilkins, now of Birmingham, and formerly of Xow Zealand. .According to the summary in “National Education,” the official organ of the New Zealand Educational Institute, tlio children of Birmingham are superior at every dental point to the children of New Zealand. The number of decayed teeth is much .smaller in Birmingham, and the number of perfect sets much greater, and the superiority increases as age advances. Yet, as wo all know, the children of Now Zealand have marked advantages over those of Birmingham; their nutrition is better, they enjoy more sunshine, and their general standard of living is higher. Why. then, our inferiority in teeth? Dr Wilkins attributes it to frequency of meals, eating between meals, and heavy consumption of sugar. He thinks also that the very rapidity of growth here interferes with dental development. It is an Interesting question, and one on winch more light should fve thrown.