NATIONAL DIET AND THE PREVENTION OF DENTAL DISEASES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 23 August 1920, Page 3

NATIONAL DIET AND THE PREVENTION OF DENTAL DISEASES.

(Published under the Authority of the Education Department.) The last publication of this series i drew attention to the great danger to the teeth of growing children, arising I from the unrestricted consumption of , sugar. Tho 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 i 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 theso modern times to bo due largely to errors in diet, and the failure to appreciate which is the natural and unquestionably the most efficient means of maintaining the mouth in an hygienic condition. AVhite bread, sweet, biscuits and cake, sloppy porridge and puddings, bread and marmalade, bread and jam, sweets, chocolate, cocoa and tea all tend to leave the mouth in a condition favourable to fermentation of particles of food remaining on and between the teeth. Acid is formed from litis fermentation with the result that the enamel is decalcified or softened and rapid decay of (he tooth substance commences.

It is hoped that it will not lie long before white bread is banished from the diet of growing children and brown or whole meal bread substituted.

Apart from the question of fermentation, tlie consumption of bread made from refined flour 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 those have been extracted during the preparation of tho flour. Biscuits other than the plain wholemeal kind are easily fermentable in iho mouth, and when sweetened are still more undesirable on this account. Porridge should be made from oatmeal as stiff as the child can take it, the idea being to encourage mastication and eliminate the practice of gulping this food so common with young children. Chocolate, cocoa and tea taken as beverages all tend to check the flow of saliva, thus aiding the process of fermentation of whatever food remains (dinging to the teeth after food. Fortunately there is an easy remedy for conditions of stagnation of tho month after food. Fresh fruit, especially orange and apple, will produce an immediate ain't copious flow of saliva and as it is recognised that all foods which are injurious to the teeth car not be readily banished from the average diet of to-day, parents should make sure that, such foods are followed by fresh fruit. Apples arc cheap and plentiful in this country, and the effect of a piece of this ripe fruit at the end of a meal j is highly beneficial in preventing for- I mentation and in cleaning the teeth, j If is pointed out that the taking of j food at all hours, which is so common j with children in most families, is very j undesirable, and such n practice not | only favours fermentation and acid i formation in the inoufh but also entails jj a constant, flow of the digestive juices j which become weakened in strength j ami restricted in quantity. Wholemeal or Brown bread, ioast, crusts, boiled lisli. soup, blitter, green vegetables and fresh fruit, are all articles of what may be termed an j hygienic diet, that is. they encourage an adequate supply of healthy saliva. It must be understood that it is ndvis- * able that in all cases fresh fruit should , end the meal. Children are very * adaptable and a proper regime with regard io the rational consumption of j' fecal is not difficult to establish. All i robust children from the time they j are in possession of their temporary molars should be restricted to three meals a day. As the infant passes from tho purely milk to (he more solid diet, the milk should be more and more diluted with water. A dietary embracing the, throe daily mails is given below, and iho 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. The ages considered range from two to twelve years. Breakfast: Porridge made (from oatmeal) as stiff as possible or grnnose made in a similar manner. Toasted brown bread and butter (never hot buttered toast), well cooked or toasted bacon, milk and water or plain water. Fresh fruit, as a piece or orange or apnle. Dinner; Oven-dried brown bread with butter. Meat, boiled nsh. or poultrv. Cooked vegetables: uncooked vegetables such ns lettuce, cress, radish, celery. Milk pudding. Baked apple or fresh fruit as a ptece of apple or orange. Soup if given should be vegetable soup by preference. Tea: Porridge or granose (made as above) or occasionally milk pudding, toasted or oven-dried brown bread and butter. Milk and irate* plain water. .FrAcV ?ruit. as a piece of orange or apple. Eggs lightly boiled should be given only verv sparingly until after two years of age. Meat is not considered necessary up to two years of age. but may be added later. Grated cheese on toast or with other foods is easily digested by children. Sugar, jam and honey should be restricted to a min. mum", honey being preferable to the - former. Quite recently* at a public meeting of three usvs 5 duration at Manchester under the auspices of the Food Edncaon Society of Gvcae Britain the fact that 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. James AVheatley, the County and School Medical Officer for Shropshire, produced a record of investigations in the elementary schools of that county showing that the restriction 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 rational or hvgenic diet care must bo displayed in the choice and preparation of foods in order that those substances which have been found by experiment to be necessary to the proper growth of the body shall not be either absent or destroyed by heat in overcooking. This qucflion of tho “vitamines,” as these substances are called, will form (he subject of the next publication in this series. cav>.