PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2477, 7 September 1922, Page 2

PREVENTIVE DENTISTRY

FIXE RESULTS OBTAINED IN 110 HOW HEN LA.

A great deal is being written and said in the cities about the shocking condition ot New Zealanders’ teeth and tlie effect upon the national physique, ll is to be doubted whether much advance is being made in practical betterment, except in the general benefits that must accrue from such a vigorous and sustained campaign, for instance, as that carried on by the Government Director of Dental Health, and the frequent public statements of experts. It is safe to say that few, if any parts of the Dominion have such a record of practical achievement as that which has been carried on under Mr D. S. Mackenzie’s scheme during the past three years in the Ilorowhenua County. A Levin Chronicle representative who enquired as to the progress the movement was making elicited one or two striking facts. Starting some three years ago with ,150 children receiving treatment on this coast, the number has now grown to 500, practically all the schools in the district being represented. So far as is known, not one child has lost a permanent tooth in that period after having had its teeth put in order. The condition of the children’s mouths, as the result of following a few Simple rules impressed on them, is on the whole vastly improved. Mr Mackenzie is convinced that it i- possible to provide a service in the Ilorowhenua County that will tend to raise the standard of the rising generation’s teeth enormously. There is no reason, financial or otherwise, why children attending the schools on this coast should not have tolerably sound teeth, and therefore healthy mouths and unimpaired general health. All that js necessarv is regularity in cleaning the teeth and a little quite bearable treatment —provided the latter is carried out at the right time. This provision is the essence of the scheme under notice. It is necessary that the child should first receive attention at the age of six. when the permanent teeth first make their appearance. Dental decay is thus arrested in it' early stages, and regular inspections thereafter keep it in check and eliminate the necessity of overtaking long overdue arrears of attention at lieavv expense. As in medicine, so in dentistry, the hope of the future lies in prevention rather than repairing the damage after it is done. Questioned a> to whether his -cheinc was self-supporting, Mr Mackenzie said he had not gone very deeply into that aspect of the matter. He had first taken the quest ion up because he considered the dental profession owed a duly to the community lo give it the best service it was capable ot, and to combat the ravages of dental decay in a manner creditable to the profession and beneficial to the greatest number in the community. He would not deny, however, that the problem had now resolved itself into an economic rather than a professional one. and the reader will see that at the fee charged of £1 per child per year, after allowances arc made for fees uncollectable, l here is not an excessive amount. c\cn with 50(1 names oil the list, out which i<> pay a professional -alarv, travelling expenses over such a wide-proud county as Ilorowhenua, and provide material and facilities. Parents with vivid recollections of the cost of their own and their families dental bills will appreciate the modesty of the charge of £1 per-year. There are ways, however, in which assistance might be given to the scheme, though the originator of it puts forward no plea or claim for such aid. The educational authorities, for instance, might do something towards the collection of fees and the provision in all schools of facilities for examination and treatment. This latter would be an especial boon in country centre- remote from dental surgeries. Part of the Government’s policy for improving dental conditions is the lraining of young women to act as nurses, and the first quota of thirty will have completed their training at the end of the year. If one of these trained operators were stationed in this country, her services would he of very great assistance in furthering the cau-e of dental lieallli, and where so sound a basis has been established by private initiative and enthusiasm it- should not he too much to expect this measure of State co-operation.

These sire considerations, however, that only lesicl up to the main objective of this article, which is to direct the attention of parents still outside the scheme to its benefits. The charge is practically a nominal one —something in the nature of an insurance against dental decay and all the ills it brings in its train. In the individual interests of our children no less than as a step towards tlie physical betterment of the nation, it is surely worth some sacrifice to give the men and women of to-morrow a fair start dentally on their way through life.