SUGAR AND DENTAL DISEASE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3554, 17 August 1920, Page 6

SUGAR AND DENTAL DISEASE.

EXPERTS' OPINIONS. (Published undpr Authority of Education Department.) NO 2. It lias been suggested by a newspaper correspondent that the Education Departmc - . should make clearer upon what grounds it has stated in an article recently published under .its outhorny that sugar is a cause of dental disease The article referred to is one of a seri s in which the Department is endeavouring to do something to stem the steady advance" of this now almost universal disease which is becoming an increasingly serious menace to our national welfare.

It should be emphasised at the outset that the ercessive consumption of sugar is net the only cause to which dental decay is attributed. but ni the opinion of eminent, dental and medicaU authorities after care--dful observation and research during : the last 20 years it is certainly regarded as one of the chief causes of the phenomenal increase in dental caries experienced in modern times.

Were wte possessed of no further knowledge than that sugar being an acid-producing food helps to decalcify the enamel which is the protective covering of the teeth a glance at the figures showing the increase in the consumption of sugar during the last 50 years would probably convince the average reader that t*ne.re| is some connection between the .'excessive eonsumption of sugdr and the increase in dental decay. < \ V Ample, proof in support of this b.a lief will be found in the following reto. and extracts from, the writings of those qualified to speak upon the subject. I SUGAR CANE AND NATIVES' ;«• TEETH.

' H. P. Pickerill M.D. M.D.E. (Bir•misgham), Dean of the-'Dental Faculty, University of Otago, who has engaged. in considerable research work in connection with the causes of denta 1 ! disear<? ; has stated that 'sugar, especially in the form of is a potent cause of dental decay. affirms that a growing child can obtain all the sugar it needs for its muscles. ±at, and heat • development from con-, sump'ion of it in a natural form, i.e.., as found in fruit and some vegetables. Dr. PickeriM shows that, the example of native. children chewing a latrgc. imount of sugar-cane being quoted and accepted by many as evidence trat cane sugar cannot be productive of dental caries is erroneous. ' ...

The juice of the' sugar cane is mark; C|dly like fruit-juice and produces a copious flow cf alkaline saliva, inducing a. condition of alkalinity in the mouth five times greater than that evoked. by bread and butteir.

There is also 'a marked difference in the, concentration of cane sugar as taken by natives in sugar-cane and as taken in the form .of lump sugar or sweet's. lb requires about 20 sticks of sugar-cane to make 1 pound of lump sugar. This means that every (large "lump" of sugar is jqual to two feet of cane. European children frequently therefore eat the equivalent of at •lejast 10 to 12 feet of cane in a few minutes, while many adults consume the equivalent of at (least 2 to 6 feet of cane, in a cup of tea. J. Sim Wallace D. Sc. M.D. L.D.5.,! formerly Dental Surgeon and Lecturer on Dental Surgery, London Hospital, has written numerous works on the ;nid prevention of cbcay in teeth end of common diseases in childhood >or twenty years pas \ he has consistently taught that for the prevention of decay in teeth we must rely upon a properly arranged diet. In numbers, of cases Dr. Wallace has proved 'that children, brought up on a. rational diet with the elimination of free sugar, are, immune from dentfll disease. He discovered the kinds of foods which tended to induce dental caries and those which tended to prevent caries, from considerations of the evolutionary history of man and his diet, from careful dlinical and statistical observations wi h regard to diet among children who were practically free from and those who were ravaged by caries, and from comparisons of the. teeth and diet o different savage races. CHILRREN WITH PERFECT TEETH

He says,, "-Ths excellent results i which have been got by bringing up children on a dietetic regime based upon the knowledge derived from these soures show beyond all possibility of doubt that dental caries is not only preventable but that it is easily and surely preventable." . The teachings of Dr Wallace with regard to 'h? elimination of fp;e sugar fro™ the die.t of children have been cp.rred ou l by rnthusoasts all over the -wori'.d, and Dominion there are instances of dentists and doctors who, navinff sufficlon 1 . faith in their beliefs, havcv pat them into practice with their own children with the result that these <shiHren now possess perfeet tejeth.

TEETH OE ENGLISH SCHOOL CHILDREN. Dr. James Wheatley, County and School Medical Officer for Shropshire, has been able to prove from his statistics that the eating "iof sweeps by children is responsible for 50 per cent, of the decayed teeth in children at •the present day In May of this year j Dr. Wheatley produced a record of in- . vestigations- in the elementary schools ' of Shropshire, showing that since'the : war there had been a very pronounced decrease in the number of children suffring from decayed tetluduc to the altered character of the) bread and the lessened consumption of sweets. The average percentage of children with teeth free from decay at the age of 5 years during the years 1910-1914 indlusive was 5 per cent, and during the last six months? previous to May 1920 (it was 4 per cent. At the age of 12 y-ars th- figures were 2.9 and 27.1 respectively. Reference to other authorities must bo deferred, for another article. In conclusion the Department considers that in viiew of the) above and other statements it may be safely said that it is-now a generally accepted opinion amongst experts that sugar is one of the most potent causes of dental decay.