DENTAL DISEASES

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1931, Page 6

DENTAL DISEASES

OVERSEAS TREATMENT

COL. HUNTER RETURNS

EFFECT OF REFINED FOODS

Great interest was being taken in England in the way New Zealand was treating dental disease in children, said Colonel T. A. Hunter, formerly Director of Dental Hygiene, who returned by fhe Rangitata after about two years abroad. Colonel Hunter-, who was accompanied, by Airs Hunter, ; motored through England and Scot? bind when he first went home, and later spent a considerable time on the Italian Riviera. The influence of Mussolini was very evident in Italy, Colonel Hunter said. All the Government services, such as railways and education, were wonderfully developed, and the whole’country, was progressing in every Wav at a very rapid rate. The Fascists, or Italian Nationalists, were very strong, and exceedingly enthusiastic. - Throughout Italy and France, Colonel Hunter tfas impressed with the hard-working peasantry, and the holdings were always very small and intensively cultivated. ENGLISH METHODS. Colonel Hunter, who was responsible for the inauguration of th e system for the treatment of dental diseases in children in New Zealand as it is to-day, inquired into The methods in vogue in England during'his stay there. From his observations, Colonel Hunter said there was a growing interest in the New Zealand system, now in England, which indeed stood out in sharp contrast to the attitude of five years back, when nobody wanted to near•about it.

The English system was different to that of New Zealand, and was controlled by certain 4 local bodies. Treatment was not free except in very necessitous cases. No girls were employed, and treament was only administered by fully qualified surgeons. In London Col. Hunter addressed a representative group of officers connected with the London City Council Health Department. They showed great interest in the activities carried on in New Zealand, and sofi le of the prominent men considered the possibility of adopting a scheme in England on lines similar to New Zealand.

CAUSE OF BAD TEETH. Colonel Hunter said that the general condition of the teeth of British people was not good, but lie did not think that it was quite as bad rs that of New Zealand. He could only attribute the prevalence of dental disease to one cause —the use of refined and concentrated foods.

He had had an interesting discussion with one Dr Sim. Wallace, a prominent Harley Street man, as to the inced of sugar as an article of diet. i)r Wallace had inaint ined tlr t suS•if being so rich in carbohydrates, was essential to supply ! e t and energy to tlie body. Colonel Hunter had replied that nature did not make errors or mistakes in providing food for mankind. If sugar were necessary for our diet, then the sugar cane would be found growing luxuriantly in the temperate regions. But that was not tlie case, for sugar only grew in tropical climates; therefore it was not essential to the white man.

Colonel Hunter commented on the immunity of dental disease among native peoples that -were untouched by civilisation.As soon as they came into contact with the white man, their teeth, went. Surely that fact should influence us against the excessively refined foods of modern civilisation .