NATIONAL DIET AND THE PREVALENCE OF DENTAL DISEASE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2166, 21 August 1920, Page 1

NATIONAL DIET AND THE PREVALENCE OF DENTAL DISEASE.

(Published under the Authority of the Education Department.)

The last publication of this series drew attention to the great danger to the teeth of growing children, arising from the unrestricted consumption of sugar. The present article will deal with other classes of foods which are injurious to the teeth, and will conclude by indicating those foods which best guarantee the successful preservation of both the temporary and the permanent teeth.

For many years those qualified to speak authoritatively* on this matter have declared dental disease to

be easily avoidable, and have proved the magnitude of the trouble in these modern times lo be due largely to errors in diet and the failure to appreciate the fact that certain foods produce a free How of healthy saliva, which is the natural and unquestionably the most efficient means of maintaining the mouth in an hygienic condition. "White bread, sweet biscuits and cake, sloppy porridge and puddings, bread and marmalade, bread and jam, sweets, chocolate, cocoa and tea all (end to leave the mouth in a condition favourable to fermentation of particles of food remaining on and between the teeth. Acid is formed from this fermentation, with the result that the enamel is decalcified, or soflencn, and rapid decay of the tooth substance commences.

it is hoped that it will not be long before white bread is banished from the diet of growing children, and brown or wholemeal bread substituted.

Apart from the question of fermentation, the consumption of bread made from relined Hour means the children are not receiving the essential substances of the living grain which are necessary for the nourishment and proper growth of their bodies, as these have been extracted during the preparation of the Hour. Biscuits oilier than the plain wholemeal kind are easily fermentable in lhe mouth, and when sweetened are si ill more undesirable on this account. .Porridge should be made from oatmeal as stiff as the children lake It, the idea being to encourage mastication and eliminate the practice of gulping this food so common with most young children. Chocolate, cocoa and tea taken as beverages all lend lo check the How of saliva, thus aiding the process of fermentation of whatever food remains clinging to the teeth after food. Fortunately (here is an easy remedy for conditions of stagnation of the mouth after food. Fresh fruit, especially orange and apple, will produce an immediate and copious How of saliva, and as it is recognised that all foods which are injurious to the teeth cannot be readily banished from the averagediet of to-day, parents should make sure that such foods are followed by fresh fruit.

.Apples are cheap and plentiful in this country, and the effect of a ])ieee of this ripe fruit at the end of a meal is highly beneficial in'prevent in}? fermentation aTul in cleaning the teeth. It is pointed out that the taking of food at all hours, which is so common wih children in most families, is very undesirable, and such a practice not only favours fermentation and acid formation in the mouth, but also entails the constant flow of the digestive juices, which become weakened in strength and restricted in quantity. Wholemeal or brown bread, toast, crusts, boiled fish, soup, butler, green vegetables and fresh fruit, are all articles of what may be termed an hygienic diet, that i*, they encourage an adequate supply of healthy saliva. It must be understood that it is advisable that in all cases fresh fruit should end the meal. Children are very adaptable,’ and a proper regime with regard to the rational consumption, of food is not difficult to establish. All robust children from the time they are in possession of their temporary molars should be restricted to three pineals a day. As the infant passes from the purely milk to the more solid diet the milk should he more and more diluted with water. A dietary embracing the three daily meals is given below, and the foods selected from those enumerated will ensure adequate nourishment to the growing child, with sufficient mastication. It will be understood that variations in the number, kind and quantity of foods will be observed according to the age of the child. Tiie ages considered range from two to twelve years. Breakfast,—Porridge made (from oatmeal)* as stiff as possible, or Granose made in a similar manner. Toasted brown bread and butter (never hotjniiteml toast), well cooked or toasted bacon, milk and water, or plain water. Fresh fruit,

a?, a piece of orange or apple. Dinner, —Oven-dried brown bread with butter, meat, boiled tish, or poultry. Cooked vegetables; ,uneookcd vegetables sueb as, lettuce, cress, radish, celery. Milk pudding. Baked apple or fresh fruit, as a pjece of apple or orange. Sou]), if given, should be vegetable soup by preference.

Tea. —Porridge or Cranose (made as above), ur occasionally milk pudding, toasted ur oven-dried brown broad and butler. Milk and water, or plain water. Fresh fruit, as a piece of orange or apple. Eggs lightly boiled should be given only very sparingly until after two years of age. 'Meat is not considered necessary up to two years

of age, but may be added later

prated cheese on toast, or with other foods, is easily digested by children. Sugar, jam, and honey should be restricted to a minimum, honey being preferabe to the former.

Quite recently, at a public meeting of three days’ duration, at Manchester, under the auspices of the Food Education Society of Great Britain, the fact (hat Jewish children had better teeth than Gentile was attributed to differences in diet, an important factor being the Jews’ use of oil instead of sugar. Dr. Janies Wheatley, the County and School Medical Officer for Shropshire, produced a record of investigations in the elementary schools of that country, showing that the restrictions of the sugar supply during the war, the altered character of the bread, and the reduced consumption of milk had been accompanied by a remarkable diminution of dental caries. Parallel, with the attention to a national or Hygienic-diet care must be displayed in the choice and preparation of foods, in order that those substances which have been found by experiment lo be necessary to the proper growth of the body shall not be either absent or destroyed by heal in over-cooking. This question of the “Vitam-incs,’’ as these substances are called, will form the subject of the next publication in this scries.