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Well Fair Laddie. Extravaganza 1961

Treatment for Mouth

Treatment for Mouth

The text of a talk never likely to be broadcast over all Labour and Uneconomic Stations by Dr. H. D. Turgent, Director-General of Wealth.

As the winter comes on us once again, and seasonal thrills are reported to the doctors of She country, it becomes clear that many people are likely to be troubled again by mouth. Mouth seems to be one of those illnesses which, like the common cold, we are unable to find the exact cause of. Symptoms are however easily recognised and there are steps which can be taken in the home to ease the patient suffering from mouth and help to speed his recovery.

Mouth has been troubling mankind for a long time and the Greeks had their own special cure for the condition, a cure which they called —xsser—. This remedy is still in wide household use and is possible only when two patients with mouth can be brought together. Apparently by rubbing the infected area, which is generally about an inch beneath the nose, against the similar area of the other patient, some relief can be obtained from the condition, but this must be only temporary as the patients seem to wish to try and repeat this process as often as possible, especially where one patient is male and the other female. For patients who wish to try this cure I would suggest that hygienic gauze face masks be procured and firmly strapped over the face. This allows relief to be obtained, without the risk of spreading the infection.

For a number of years, until recently, the treatment most widely used was to shoot the mouth off. Doctors today however are reluctant to do this, and prefer the more protracted but more certain cure which I will now discuss for a minute.

Mouth is a hideous disease and causes discomfort not only to the patient, but also to other people who are likely to be startled by a sudden glint of teeth, or disturbed from the noises which are likely to come from a patient when badly ill. It is for this reason that the patient must be kept completely quiet during the course of the illness and a heavy towel or similar soft padding strapped firmly over the infected area until it is cleared up. This may be anything from a week to ten days after the infection first breaks out, but it is essential that the patient be kept under this cure for as long as any trace of mouth remains.

There are some simple tests which anybody can make to check whether a patient has mouth. The most obvious sign is the appearance of a large crack in the face, normally horizontal, and about an inch beneath the nose. A close examination of this crack should be made for much as to the condition of the patient can be told from it. If for instance the area surrounding the mouth is of a somewhat deeper shade of red than the rest of the face the patient is in all probability a woman. This should not however be regarded as conclusive, for reasons which I will go into more fully in a later talk. A conclusive test may, however, be made by holding a lighted match up to the patient's wrist. If there is, after some time, a noise emitted from the area of infection then the presence of mouth in the patient can be regarded as confirmed.

Although the exact causes of mouth have not been traced there are certain steps which can be taken which will greatly help reduce the risk of infection. Care should for instance be taken in the handling of gossip, which should not be left too long in the open air, or allowed to grow too old before being used. The mind should be dusted out thoroughly at least once a month, and plenty of fresh air should be allowed in, especially if anybody is going to be on it for any length of time. Particularly important is the care of the tongue which should be changed at least every second day.

New Zealand's record in cases of mouth is far from being an enviable one and statistics released by the Who indicate that 173 New Zealanders in 10 suffer at some time from this complaint. When compared with a national average of 1.02 in the United States of Nicaragua the seriousness of the problem will be more easily seen. It is to be hoped that an awareness of the problem will lead to a more active campaign to stamp mouth out of this fair country of ours.