OUR BABIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 95, 26 August 1913, Page 7

OUR BABIES.

(l<y Hygeia.) Published under the auspices of tlu Society for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an'ambulance at the bottom."

DECAYED TEETH. The following inquiry was received a short time ago from a country township. As the care of our children's- teeth is a matter of the first |importance, we feel sure that "Inquirer's" letter and Dr. Pickerill's [reply will bo read with great inter-

est : Dear "Hygeia,"—l wish to ask your advice about a little girl's teeth. She is nearly six. and some of her lower molars are badly decayed, two being mere shells. Should these decayed teeth be extractedF We might have had tin's done, but

wore told her permanent teeth would then come through prematurely, and would not therefore be so durable. In her upper jaw her second tcetli are very irregular, the two front ones being very broad, but those adjoining quite small.— I am, etc., INQUIRER.

This question was submitted to the loading authority in the Dominion—namely, Dr. Pickerell, Professor of Dentistry at the Otago University, who, as our honorary dental surgeon, has always given every encouragement and assistance to the Society. The following is his reply :

DR. PICKERILL'S REPLY. J am always glad to be of any us:' to you and your work. As regards the question.. l } you ask, it is very difficult to lay down any hard-and-fast rule;-. It all depends on whether sepsis is present or not, and whether the latter is amenable to treatment. But

in ail eases of carious deciduous teeth something must be done. It must not be allowed.-, (as is often the case) to slide. The teeth should be filled if possible, and if not they should be extracted. Two or three years of septic absorption may far ■ outweigh in evil effects any deformity which may result from too early extraction. J. am having, typed extracts on the subject from my latest, books on

'•Stomatology,!- which explain the position, I think; if not, please let mo know. ... [,-, ,j t y t ' i< i! »•■ ; EXTRACTS FROM ! LOGY." ."/' ' \ , ?-IJ I Mil " •-•.-< The necessity of children masticating food whiWl'Vequires'the'. exeixi'sp of'sOme ; fbfce ! ' fjfiould be pointed, out,

and if necessary suitable diets arranged for particular cases, preat care should bo takenofthe deciduous, tenth, that these do' not become so diseased as to necessitate their extraction before t the right age. Should they, ho\vev%, become hojwlessly sep : tic, they* mmi>e extracted,' since the.

risk of septic absorption for, perhaps, a year or 'far outweighs ! the evil effect of crowing tHe" permanent teeth. ■ Deciduous teeth retained beyond the normal age should be extracted if there is any sign of, the presence of trie permanent tooth—usually to be detected as a bulging of the bone

upon palpation immediately below the deciduous tooth. Sometimes a difficulty may arise in deciding whether a particular tooth is a deiduous or permanent one. This may he determined by drawing a Ane.-poin.tod probe over the termination of at the cervix. In deciduous teetli it terminates in a distinct ridge; in permanent tooth its termination is not notice-

able. A deciduous tooth should not, however, he extracted if possible before the age at which its permanent successor should erupt, and it should not he allowed to remain much after this period without due reason. It

is therefore eminently necessary to remember the numbers which represent the ages at which the respective deciduous teeth should be lost physiologically : 7 central. S lateral. 10 first deciduous molars. 11 canine. 11 second deciduous,molars.