Tons of teeth (1964)

[Music] today our children are fitter than at any time in our history TB polio diphtheria smallpox they're all mastered the killers today are the motor cars and the accidents in the home but that's another story despite better living standards and public health measures the most prevalent disorder the mantra meant almost every person suffers in some degree from the earliest years upwards is dental disease let's have a look at some of these dental diseases here are a few photographs collected from all of the dental hospitals they're the sort of things you see every day look at this beautiful teeth but neglected they obviously haven't been cleaned for a long time and the gums are all inflamed and dirty now look at this worse still dirty messy gums and decay starting in between the teeth all the way around and here's a chap who said he was a self-confessed lolly addict he Cyclon is all day long and you see how all the surfaces of the teeth I've just eroded away by the acid and he has another one a nine year old the same sort of picture of this rampant decay just destroying the teeth here are some recent figures of five year olds only 18 out of a hundred have had no tooth decay for 12 year olds the positions even worse only three out of a hundred have had no tooth decay recently someone put it this way about 35,000 new cavities start in our children's teeth every day for tons of children's teeth are extracted every year and 800 pints of bladder shed and perhaps an equal amount of Tears for tons is an awful lot why does this happen it's overwhelming evidence from every part of the world that the wealthier community is the more it spends on a diet for the high sugar content and the greater is the amount of dental decay Great Britain we started importing sugar in the time of the first Queen Elizabeth and now today we eat in two weeks the amount that they used to eat in a whole year tooth decay can be influenced by many factors some people are more susceptible than others but there's no doubt at all that any tendency to decay will be accelerated by frequent eating of sweet sticky snacks between meals let us consider the inside of the mouth as being rather like a test tube it contains our teeth which are bathed in a warm alkaline solution containing millions of bacteria this is our saliva now add some sugary substance to this solution and within a very short time vast numbers of these bacteria will feed on this sugar turning it into acid acid which attacks the enamel of the teeth saliva tries to wash this acid away but if this attack is constantly repeated the tooth will gradually be destroyed let's look at it another way here's a diagram representing your saliva let's trace what so often happens to it through one whole day you get up you rush through your breakfast finish with sticky bread and jam and your teeth are under acid attack red for danger the saliva eventually washes it away but you nibble sweets you have a mid-morning bun and the attacks are repeated and so right on through the day sweets after lunch a lollies on the way home from school soggy cakes for tea and snacks with Vitelli then supper and finally biscuits and milk in bed the whole day acid attack attack attack how can decay be prevented well here are some simple practical things that you can do first of all it's very important to eat nourishing wholesome meals a reasonable balance of meat fish cheese eggs milk bread and fresh fruits and vegetables and if you have this nourishing diet you won't want to be always eating between meals and of course equally important proper tooth brushing with a good toothpaste after meals to wash away all the food hey not like that let me show you on this model how to do it properly now look you use a toothbrush not only just to clean your teeth but to keep your gums healthy as well so start brushing on the outside of your upper teeth sweeping downwards over the gums to the tips of the teeth you see a nice firm sweeping downward movement all the way around right around to the other side when you've done that brush the inner surfaces of the upper jaw let's let your palate sweeping the brush right over the gums out to the tips of the teeth again all the way around like there then when you've done that you can let yourself go on the biting surfaces because you're only dealing with teeths now you're not going to damage the gums you can scrub away they're as hard as you like so remember don't brush that way where the gums are concerned because you'll damage the necks of the teeth you'll wear them away and they get jolly sensitive if you do that so don't do this but this sweeping downwards and then just the same way upwards in your lower jaw now you have a practice go in your mouth without toothpaste and this time we'll start with a lower jaw on the outside that's the way sweep the brush up over the gums to the tip the teeth good that's the way lots of wrists that's it now the same thing on the inner surfaces have a girl get the brush right down sweep it right up over the tips a little bit more difficult that's well that's it good now let's have a gap of biting surfaces God scrub away scrub away on those biting surfaces as hard as you like that's lovely when you can't brush your teeth finish off with an apple half an apple if you like or something that scars and cleans your teeth naturally that's the way or simplest still you can take some water in your mouth and swish it around hard that's right gone good and hard that's the way good now let's swallow it then another go just the same way good and hog go on bubble it around that's the way it's splendid it will swallow it again or you can spit it out if you like that's it now you remember our diagram with those constant acid attacks now here's a very different picture you have had your breakfast they've had a good nourishing breakfast and you've cleaned your teeth and that's last did you ride through the morning you have your lunch all right you have your sweets in your puddings at lunchtime and then you're finished with an apple and you'll go right through to teatime again you have your cakes and your biscuits a tea yes but you finish by swishing and swallowing and have to go into the safe zone again and then supper and when you get to bed you clean your teeth and you're up in the safe zone for the whole night so one two three four short little acid attacks in the whole day the whole picture of dental disease in this country could be dramatically changed for the better by the introduction of a very simple public health measure let's have a look at water the water we drink coming from Springs and rivers feeding great reservoirs and absorbing traces of many minerals from the ground over which it passes one of these is fluoride and when there's enough of it present in the water the people who drink it have teeth which are much much stronger in most of our water supplies there's not enough fluoride but it is possible for the water engineers to add the right amount and this is being done in quite a number of places it's a home mass of evidence from many parts of the world showing its effectiveness but let's talk to somebody who is an expert on the subject here is the professor of preventive dentistry at one of our British universities could you tell us about the studies that you've been carrying out certainly for last nine years I have been examining the teeth of children in two towns in one town fluoride has been put into the water and in the other town number what differences have you noted in the children's teeth the differences are tremendous in the town where those fluoride in the water the teeth are healthier they're stronger they have a much better appearance so much so that even an ordinary person could distinguish children from one town from those in the other people say it's only effective for young children teeth do you think with his feral no this is a popular fantasy but the benefits of fluoride during the period of tooth development are carried with the individual throughout the rest of his life what about these other old bogie about all the gas to diseases you're going to get is it absolutely safe perfectly safe I think our best guarantee of safety is the fact that about half a million people in this country live in areas where the water has fluoride in it very often in excess of the amount of we require perfect dental health and the only difference that you find in these people if they have far better teeth now this is where there's fluoride in the water naturally is the effect the same in areas when it's been artificially added exactly the same would you say that the the medical and the dental profession recommend this idea yes both medical and dental profession family support this idea well thank you very much indeed the Minister of Health with all the weight of evidence before him has approved that fluoride should be introduced into our drinking water but even so the final decision rests with your local authority and they can only put approval into practice with your support now to sum up what all this means let's start for the dentist someone you should visit regularly and remember this the tremendous advances that we've made with modern anesthetics quicker and easier drilling new materials and so on have taken the sting out of dentistry and regular dental treatment from the earliest age should no longer be a worry so if we do all we can to prevent dental disease by eating nourishing meals by brushing our teeth with a good toothpaste finishing meals with an apple or rinsing with water by regular dental check-ups and by supporting fluoridation then one day we'll add dental disease to the long list of the ones that we've mastered [Music]