The prevention of dental caries / by J. Sim Wallace.

  • Wallace, J. Sim (James Sim), 1869-1951.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The prevention of dental caries / by J. Sim Wallace. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    has been such an extraordinary change during the last few years in the conceptions of the dental profession with regard to the cause and the prevention of the disease. Formerly, the cause was vaguely supposed to be hereditary, constitutional, intangible and irremedi- able ; now it is definitely known to. be simple, definite, tangible and remediable. Correspondingly from the most doleful pessimism the profession has passed into a most optimistic attitude. Instead of list.ning to papers on ‘‘ The Teeth as the Beginning of the End of the Civilized Race,” we now hear of ‘the decimation of the ranks of the dentists which will follow when once the eyes of the public are opened to this scourge and its possibilities of prevention.”’ And ‘“‘ that we look forward with every belief in the ultimate con- quest of the disease. We see a future people free of it and marvel- ling that those of to-day could have suffered so long and so patiently. We imagine them asking themselves what strange perversity could have filled the mind of people who were willing to spend thousands, nay millions, of pounds a year on the cure of a disease, upon dis- covering the cause of which they would not spend a penny. Can we wonder at them if they think thus? For everywhere we see signs of this dreadful malady ; it ruins the beauty of many, it enfeebles those who would be otherwise healthy, it helps to fill the _ workhouses and poor infirmaries with preventible sickness, it is the direct and indirect cause of a waste of fabulous sums of money.” From multitudinous researches which seemed to bring us no nearer to the practical solution of the problem of dental caries, we have come to hear that caries is essentially a preventable disease. From a feeling of shame that the dental profession were unable to solve the problem of prevention it is now said that by having cal and scientific world.” Instead of anticipating the continued increase of dental caries, we confidently anticipate its more or less complete extinction. And for those who dread their annual visit to _ the dentist we can give the most satisfactory assurance that this, though it may continue to be expedient, will be but rarely necessary. Moreover, we can say that we are on the eve of a more or less sys- tematic crusade. A crusade no doubt initiated by us in establishing rational methods for the prevention of caries, but now about to be passed on to those whose position and authority fits them in some ways more satisfactorily for carrying home the truth to the mass of the population. Thus, Dr. James Wheatley (Medical Officer of Health for Shropshire) has set Medical Officers of Health an excel- lent example. After studying the subject for himself he brought it forcibly before the medica] profession in his branch. He then lectured to the school teachers in his neighbourhood, and finally prepared leaflets for the instruction of the parents of the school children in his county. Like many others who have studied the subject, he came to appreciate its enormous importance not only from the point of view of the teeth, but also from the point of view of health in general. Thus, like others who have troubled to study the subject, he re-echoed the sentiments of those who feel that the principles of dietetics suggested by a study of the food in relation to