OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 626, 10 December 1913, Page 2

OUR BABIES.

Published under the auspiees ol ihe Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a i'cnee ::i tiie top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." London, October l.'L CHILDREN'S TEETH. Last week I supplied a summarv c f some of the paper:? and demone-tr'ation" gven at the dental svcHon rf t;,e groat international Medical Conytess in London by distinguished cental authorities, showing hor.' decayed teeth gave rise to consumption, rheumatic fever, und other grave diseases. | It was agreed on all hands that even l be fringe of the great national pro•dem of saving the teeth could not be satisfactorily dealt with until a "health conscience" was aroused, and : bservancs of the simple rules nf i ealthy living becomes general especially in regard to the rearing uf children. What national bad teeth means is well conveyed in the following Pall Mall Gazette summary n£ an address to Dr Sim Wallace, leading authority on the subject— STARTLING FIGURES. A discussion of far reaching importance that was down for this morning (August 9th) was that of the relation of dental diseases to public health. The exhaustive report that was prepared under .this heading by Dr J. Sim Wallace, honorary dental surgeon to the West End Hospital for nervouß diseases, contained startling figures: Number of teeth decayed or lost among 40,000,000 inhabitants of these islands, between 250,000,000 and 500,000,000. Estimating the value of a sound tooth compared with diseased one at £l, the loss to the nation from carious teeth alone is represented by hundreds of millions of pounds. Dr Sim Wallace helped us also to realise the connection between diseased teeth and other and more serious diseases. "Dreadful!" he described the condition that has been revealed by the inspection of school children's teeth, and when considered in relation to concomitant and consequent disease, it fills üb, he said, with amazement that immediate and strenuous efforts aie not being made the existing state of affairs. The following important short rules for the prevention of decay in teeth were suggested:— For children up to two and a-half years of age all starchy or sugary food, except milk, should be given in a firm or fibrous form to stimulate mastication and promote the healthy growth of the jaws. Bread and rusks should never be soaked in milk. Bread with crust (and butter) and toasted bread (and butter) should form a considerable part of the meal?. If soft, starchy, or sugary food has been eaten, the mouth and teeth can be cleansed by food of a detergent nature. Thus, fresh fruit should be eaten after milk puddings, br-jad and jam, etc. Three meals a day are preferred to any greater number, as the longer the interval the more hygienic is the state of the mouth and stomach. Sweets, chocolate, or biscuit and milk should never be eaten between meals or before going to bed. Dr Harold Williams, an American delegate described the method by which Boston hopes to cope with the problem through the ministrations of dental infirmary which is now being built at 3 coat of £500,000. The institution will educate parents, nurses and children in the importance of preserving the teeth, and the best means of preventing dental c>"ies. THE SOCIETY'S RULES. The following rules are taken from the Society's book, "Feeding and Care of Baby," the new edition of which has just been issued in London by Macmillan and Company:— CARE OF TEETH. The care of the teeth is of supreme importance, and the following rules should he strictly attended to:— 1 :. Do everything to maintain good health. (See "What Baby Needs," page 1.) Teeth are built out of blood. 2. To ensure good, sound wellenammelled, lasting teeth, the food and the means of feeding must be such as to compel ample exercise for mouth and was throughout babyhood and childhood. "Bring up a child in the way he shoi.il 1 go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The habit of slow chewing once firmly established will tend to he maintained for life. 3. The composition of the food must be suitable —that is, adapted to the perfect building up of the structures of the body. ■i. Avoid the use of long-tube feeder and dummy, and make sure that baby "works for his living." • r ). Give baby a bone to munch from six months onwards. This serves to promote the development and growth of the jaws and teeth, and helps the eruption of the latter. .After nine months give tough cruals, toast, etc. In the second year and onwards a fair proportion of the food should he dry, firm, hard, or tough - i.e.. crusts, crisped-b.vead. toast, and raw, ripe apple. (See "The Apple Rule," page 143 ) Later, when the child has been train«d to masticate ihor oughly, oat-cake, etc., may be given. See "Far-reaching Effects of Masticatory Exercise." page 146. The exercise develops the jaws and teeth, and thus tends to prevent decay, overcrowding, and irregularity. 6. Teach baby to chew his food vigorously and thoroughly, taking sufficient time over hiu meals. Don't allow him to bolt any of his food, whether solid or liquid, but, on the other hand, don't encourage mere dawdling. At the end of a wellchewed meal tho jaws should he comfortably tired, tha flow of saliva should ba ceasing, and there should be a feeling of be.olthy satisfaction,, This constitute? the norm si check \ against over-sating, and ensures the j highest nutritive results- from the '

food taken, while at the same time developing jaw;- and tenth for futuro ■•.a>rk. * 7. ilvu'd c.i- 'ourli food, if well nioweo. i:;ir'.i '.> i runkt l good teeth :::ui to keep them sound; it also !j2!;)s to cleanse them. This applies ps:;)?fialiy to raw, ripe apple, and to nil kinds of firm, Hbrou3 fruits, and variables. S. Soft foods cling to the teeth and ti-nd to cause decay; therefore cakes, sweet?, ordinary biscuits, chocolates, etc., should be avoided habitually and should on no account be given at bedtime. All decav commences on t':ia outside of the teeth, never from within; it starts in crevices in the crowns, or between two teeth. 9. The tongue is not primarily for "talking," but is a "masticatory organ," and should do a large proportion of the work in eating—squeezing the moistened food out between the teeth and forcibly crushing it against the hard, roughened roof of the mouth. Further, it is practically a kind of tooth brush which, if properly exercised and developed, does much to cleanse the mouth. A clean mouth ensures sweetness of breath. 10. The teeth should always be brushed night and morning, all the surfaces being carefully cleansed. The first, or temporary, teeth, as well as the permanent ones, should be brushed and carefully watched foE signs of decay. In any case, the child should be taken to the dentist periodically if possible. Tf the first teeth decay early there is poor chance for the second ones; but they may be saved by unremitting care and attention.