WHEN one reads about the results of a European study finding that having a large family can heighten the risk of tooth loss among women ("Mothers who give birth to more children likely to have fewer teeth", The Herald March 14), one can appreciate why the old woman who lived in a shoe with so many children she didn’t know what to do made broth without any bread. Obviously she would not have been able to chew it.

Moreover, it is interesting to reflect upon the fact that the greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69. They were born to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-82), a peasant from Shuya, Russia. In 27 confinements, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. Her teeth were probably among the last things she was worried about.

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.