Tooth truth
Sir: As an experienced medical type, keenly concerned about dental caries in children, and also as a citizen concerned about individual liberty, I have carefully read the article, 'Tooth truth' by Leslie Adrian (19 July) and come to the conclusion that neither he nor the Minister of Health knows much about the subject. For instance, as his first 'truth' he affirms that. 'dental decay is an extremely serious problem, introducing' (my italics) 'millions to the tribulations of
the flesh in early childhood'. This, sir, is physiological rubbish. Dental decay is, in real truth, only the visible evidence of dietetic deficiency that affects the entire con- stitution of the sufferer; a deficiency that could, and should, be easily remedied by the Ministry of Health. Remembering the establishment of this Ministry just after the cessation of World War I (and its splendid chief tvto, Sir George Newman) I just won- der what it is about nowadays.
A proof of what I mean is this: at the outset of World War II, it repeated what had been done by another Ministry during the first war. It abolished the ordinary white loaf and substituted the 'National Loaf'. Any doctor or farmer can tell you why. Also, it severely rationed children's sweets, and curtailed the use of refined white sugar. As a consequence, during the whole course of the war, all forms of chronic disease were greatly reduced, and dental caries was halved. This striking improvement was matched in every belligerent country by precisely the same methods. At its con- clusion these admirable controls were relaxed with the appalling results we now see. Yet it is true to say—a real tooth truth —that dental caries is the easiest disease in the world to prevent and the easiest in the world to cure. It is merely Calcaemia. A diet containing good ripe fruit and fresh raw vegetables, with the inhibition of refined white flour and white sugar—and the dreadful 'soft' drinks—will produce caries-free children, with all the constitu- tional improvement that goes with it. If it be argued that this is long-term—that the urgencies of the situation demand a quicker remedy—then powdered bone-meal is the adequate answer.
As for fluoridation, I find it difficult to be temperate. It is quack doctoring of the very worst description. For topical applica- tion in individual cases it may at best be a semi-prophylactic of temporary effect, and as such it may occasionally be justified. But to fluoridate the entire water supply of the nation is both insult and injury; an in- sult to the Ars Medendi of doctors and dentists, and a subtle infringement of the common law rights of the individual.
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