The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-03
REPORT OF FIVE YEARS OF
 MOUTH HYGIENE IN SCHOOLS

Red Cross, thrift stamps, Hoover programs, ete. In short, no period could have been more unpropitous for a serious demonstration of this kind.
 Aside from this, the value of edu- | cation and prevention has, with delib- l efate Intent, been put to the hardest I possible test, No effort has been I made to address or educate the | teachers or to enforce cooperation l through the office of the superin- 1 tendent of schools, The supervisors ] and dental hyglenfsts have been per- I naltted to win their own way, so that 1 1t might be demonstrated that what l was accomplished fa Bridgeport 1 could be accomplished in any city. 1 Reduction of Dental Carries We believe that from 70 per cent l to so per cent of dental carries can ] be eliminated through the public ! school system by the incorporation
 fin Che school curriculum of a definite l health program, making hygiene one 1 of the requisites for promotion, This ! would Insure the co-operat3on and in 1 terest of the child, teacher and par l ont
 ! The elimination Of dental decay Is 1 so dependent upon factors other l mouth hygiene that it Is surprising ! to note the large reduction in many l schools The most important factor l Is that of diet, and cooperation in 1 this matter can be secured only after many years of education, The cor rect feeding of a child from birth l to twelve years would in itself par tiaaly, if not wholly, eliminate dental i decay The education of mothers re-
 ga1>llng the feeding of children after they reach an age when milk does ! not meet the requirements of the body Is very essential, but 1t Is neces- sacily slow, and little cooperation can be secured at this time, The 1 most important factor would be the elimination of free sugar from the diet This seems radical to the vast majority of our people who consume ninety pounds of sugar per capita q year and look upon it as a food and
 3, necessary part of the diet This is an erroneous idea, since nature has provided all the sugar that the body
 requires in various common foods, as
 milk, fruits, some of the vegetables, etc, besides providing that all starchy
 foods, such as pastries, bread, naca- roni- rice, etc, be changed into sugar fn 1hs digestive process
 The excessive consumption of free
 sugar is undoubtedly the cause of ex- ceedingIy poor teeth among the Eng 11sh- French and American peoples
 It is not hard to imagine that a 1 very large percentage Of children are constantly laborzng under a handicap
 Of faulty feeding which In turn pro- dares a long line of other handicaps, such as malfDrraed jaws. decayed . teeth, under development, nalnutri- ton, etc-, while the most normal con- dit1ons could be secured by correct l diet and cleanliness
 NaIOcEIuSiOn
 | Aside from dental decay the mos1 ne4icsable defect in the mouths o3
 the school children is lack of proper relationship between the jaws and 1 teeth, or Ina10cclusion- Ths syrnmet- 3 1 r1cal development of the brain case . and ths bones of the face as well as good digestion is dependent upon q perfect Enast7cat7ng machine It was astonishing to note that u1ajocciu- l sion was present in 9S per cent ot all the children examined in the pas' five years This depIorable condition l could be remed5ed to g great degree [ by the feeding in early childhood o1 ] t1ls hard coarse foods requiring pre- ! sure 10 thoroughly masdcare. and by 3 Lfae prevention of any pernicious hab- its- such 2s thumb sucking the use oi } pac1Gers- mouth breathing. etc Un- 3 dcoa1bted1y aG3enO5ds would be pre-
 vented to q, marked degree if the roo. 2 of the uOIEtz1 could be broadeRed and 5 IoHered by such pressure exerted in chewing This would permit of wide nasal cavities that would Des condIa- cfxe to nose breathing and proper 3 func1l0n6ng of the nasal passages When but two Der cent of ou1 sehno1 children have regular teeth i 3 adds To inc difficulty of eliminating . dental decay since irregular teetf ] offer the grsatGSt opportunity for f{ae foTn1a1iOrn of cavities and render ths i thorough cleansing of the mouth yer. ] 1 dfff5cu1t
 ReSasda4icn
 Our modern c1ty school systenas al = haT7B SzE1aIleT or greater DSr cent f of rRtarde=8 pupils The test of tn ? success of amy city school system a
 any gIxem times Is not whether theri - be at that time q, large perCentag' ) of retarded children, butt whether
 dec1ded tTend1 cam be traced tozEari 3 an 1ncTeass or decTease i'm percentaga i, of EE1ch rsatarded children
 REtardat1mn is a serious matte
 from the standpoint of inc pupdl- t11' 1 1 parent, the teacher, and the conn = 1 u111nfty- RstaTda1fDm means re-edl
 \ tzfipm, and in this i'm turn means tn = application of p1b19c funds for re ' pea1ing the operation In the Ggure
 1 given belDv- inc very HbeEa1 stan \ darsd adopLed for retaEdatiDn permit
 the child to be r1W y1sars older t9Ia T hiss grade wOG1DA HGarrant and still b
 classified as regular ThGse who an Il more tIham two gears older than CT
 tsrfng tho fr@t grade at the age ( = five would fl ddcats are classified 3 = retarded.
 The statds41es at hand in the offir . of the Board of Education are no r available year by year, but two gen ~ era1 surveys have been uade-on
 during geptemaOer. 1sf2. and th Q other in November, 1918 These sa1
 yeys, called the Age-Grads Report