Smyrna times., 1880-09-01
Children's Teeth.
HOW THEY SHOULD BE ATTENDED TO AMI
DECAY PREVENTED.

A mother of several children lately
told me of her experience. a few years
ago she thought that her eldest boys
teeth in the front of the lower Jaw were
decaying badly. This was disappoint-
ment to the mother, who had fed her
children carefully on nourishing and
wholesome food, as general rule, keep
ing both pickles and confectionery from
them. Studying the matter over she
jumped at the conclusion that what she
had read concerning the mischief making
properties of the tomato must be true,
especially as her husband, who was very
free in the use of his tomatoes this season,
had a peculiar trouble with his teeth.
She had observed that the children's, es-
pecially the boys, teeth grew white and
Clean when there was plenty Of ripe to-
matoes, and she thought that the acid of
the vegetable probably went too far and
acted upon the enamel Of the teeth. But
when the boy, then fourteen years old,
went to a dentist to have his teeth filled,
10! there was no filling to be done at
all. "Your boy has a splendid set of
teeth" the dentist told the mother.
"There is not cavity i'll them. Unus-
ually good teeth for boy of his age"
And the dentist had no doubt that the
teeth were better than they would have
been if the owners had munched candy
and pickles, as children usually do.
"They must be cleaned, and that without
delay he said, So the tartar which had
gathered and crusted gradually at the
crown Of the teeth was removed by the
dentist, and with it all appearances Of
decayed teeth. Now the boy has nothing
to do but to keep his teeth in order to
avoid dentistry bills in the future. The
younger children are warned to avoid the
older brothers trouble by the daily use oi
tooth brushes. From their fathers case
they learn to avoid the opposite extreme
His teeth are hopelessly discolored, and
a few arc habitually loose, but the usefu
tomato is no longer suspected as the cause
He had an opportunity to read some in ;
work on dentistry and came to the con
clusion that hard securing of the teetf
with gritty substances when he was {
young man had worn away the hare
enamel of his teeth, so that the strong
coffee he drank during his soldier life es
pecially) penetrated and permanently col
ored his teeth. l dislike to hear Of scour
ing the teeth. When they have beer
neglected this may be necessary to &c
them once clean. The dentist has pecu
liar tools for removing tartar crust, bu
the yellow deposit on children's teeth cal
be cleaned away as the dentist does it b,
any one. Take finely powdered pumic
stone and little clean, soft pine stick t
rub with. Dip the pine stick into waite
and then in powdered pumice, and ru'
the teeth gently. Afterwards wash then
with soap and water, using tooth brush
1t is we'll to use little fine clean soa
occasionally for cleaning the teeth, bu
plenty Of pure water "a little warm in tn
cold weather) will usually suffice for cleans
ing the teeth of persons of good dieteti
habits. To make good teeth in the frl
place beginning when we can begin, an
and allowing for "ancestry'' the mothC
should eat plain and nutrious food,
varied diet we'll supplied with bone mate
ial, as the grains are when it is not bolte
or sifted out, and lean meat. For youn
children milk should be freely used, an
Graham and outmeal also.