Medicine: Dessert Before Dinner

The youngster who wants to start his supper with ice cream and cookies, and leave the meat and potatoes until last, usually accomplishes nothing except upset his mother's appetite. But the kid is right and his mother is wrong, says Dental Surgeon Howard R. Raper of Albuquerque. Sweets eaten at the beginning of the meal leave little sugar in the mouth, because later courses scour it away. And sugar remaining in mouth crevices promotes tooth decay.

For weight-conscious adults, there is an added advantage to reversing the customary order of courses, says Dr. Raper in Dental Survey. People who begin their meals with dessert will probably kill much of their appetite; they are not likely to ask for seconds on the main course. The suggestion that sweets should be eaten first has often been made in the past, says Dr. Raper, but the regimented menu remains. Even in his own home, the dentist cannot get dessert first unless he makes a point of asking his wife for it. As for restaurants: "It can be accomplished now and then, provided one exercises enough diplomacy to settle the Berlin dispute."