A CAUSE FOR ALARM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 265, 16 December 1909, Page 3

A CAUSE FOR ALARM.

STATE OF CHILDREN'S TEETH. A PUBLIC-SPIRITED OFFER. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. The deplorable state of the teeth of the rising generation was the subject of a deputation to the Education Board this morning from the Dental Association. Mr. Carter, in expressing his condemnation that such a condition of things should be, said that it was a genuine cause the fearful condition of the teeth of a very large number of children attending the schools. Another member of the deputation explained that it was proposed to deliver two or three lecturettes a year to pupils of each school by different members of the institution, so that children should be encouraged to take proper care of their teeth. It was also proposed to pay visits of inspection for the of examining the teeth of children. Members of the Association ottered their services gratuitously, recognising it was a matter that imminently and seriously affected the health of the nation. The chairman, in thanking the members of the deputation for the true public spirit which prompted the offer, explained that the Board had alipady urged upon the Education Department that there should be general medical inspection of schools at the charge of the State. It was manifestly impossible for poor parents of working-class children to expend much on the teeth of their children, and it therefore devolved upon the State as a duty to see to the physical well-being as well as the mental training of the coming citizens)