CORRESPONDENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1922, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

TOOTH-BRUSH DRILL. (To the Editor.) Sir, —-In your issue of the lltn instant jou published a report by Dr. Elizabeth Gunn on the value of toothbrush drill in the schools. As to the comparative value of such drill under present conditions of the diet of children one must' agree, but I do decidedly take exception, if. Dr. Gunn is correctly reported, to the tremendous value evldmtiy being placed upon, not only the use of the tooth brush, but more especially the use of the so-called fruit acid wash. I feel it my duty to draw attention to the matter, as I consider the report, as published, will create a false impression in the public mind, namely, that any artificial preparation can have the magical properties ascribed to it in the report. It has long been by leaders of the dental profession that the unere artificial cleansing of the teeth has proved woefully inadequate, and is by no means the panacea that the report, would suggest, and I do. not for a moment believe Dr. Pickerill would make such a claim. I would point out that Dr. Pickerill’s suggestion for the. use of the acid mouth wash has been made on purely academic grounds, and as a result of his experiments in finding that alkaline dentifrices were salivary depresents. The point I wish to stress is that the public should be directed by medical pfficers to the natural way of securing, not only a clean and healthy mouth and teeth, but also healthy bodies by the adoption of a rational, simple, and wholesome diet. I had understood that this was the policy of the Health Department, from some of the articles published from time to time in the public Press, and am therefore very disappointed at finding an officer of the department evidently holding and promulgating such divergent and out-of-date principles,-—I am, etc., WALTER J. BRIGHT.