Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1881-12-01
Hygiene of the Teeth.

~ FrlNI l. O.WaIi. In ropuLat >cicncr MonihN
tor Nov cmb'r.l
4 hard crust j, the hest possible deutifrice
| never could get N, ,elf To believe in the
natural necessity OF tooth brush. The
African nations. the Hindoo> the natives OF
Southern Europe, the Souih-S Islanders.
the Arabs, the South American scgetariaus.
ia short. three fourth, Of our fellow men,
beside, our next relatives, the frugNorous
animals, have splendid teeth without
soEDdont. | rrail, believe that our, decay
from sheer dlsu,e the boarding house h"n,n
lives chiefly on pap-wants all the meats
soft -bullrd. and gruals at cold biscuit or an
undcrdone potato; IN other word>, he dele
gates 10 the cook the proper functions Of his
teeth We hear occasionally Of old men
getting a second. rather a third set Of
teeth | met one Of them IN northern
Guatemala, and ascerlained that he had be-
come toothless during twelve wears
Juurn IN a seaport town, and that he got III.
ncw set upon his return TO his native village.
where cITCum stances Obliged HIM 10 resume
the hard corn-cake diet OF hls boy hood wears.
Ills teeth mad reappeared. a. soon as their
services we're called for, and would probably
never have absented themselves Il pap
diet had not made them suprriluou>. An
artificial dentifrice will certainly Keep the
teeth white, hat that does not prevent their
premature decay disu>e gradually softens
their substance. till one fine day the hash
eater snaps his best lncisnr upon an uueN-
pected piece Of bone. Every old dentist
knows hundreds Of city customers whom
the daily use Of a toothbrush did not save
from the necessity of applying. before the
end of the fortieth wear. ior complete eel
luloid set"
do not say that soft toothbrush and
such dentifrlces as oatmeal or burned arrow
root can do any harm, but, for sanitary pur-
poses, such precautions must be supple
mented By dentdl exercise. Let child in
vigorate lis teeth by chewing hard crust.
or better vet, handful of q St. Johns
bread or earob-beans. the edible pod of
the NimOSd siiigad. Children and whole
tribes OF the northern races seem to feel
an instructive desire to exercise their teeth
upon some solid substance. as pet squirrels
will gnaw the furniture il YOU give them
nut kernels instead of nuts. Thus Kohl
tells US that the natives of Southern Russia
are addicted to the practice of chewing
vegetable product which he at first sup
posed TO be the much harder seed of the
Turkish sunfower tHeiidnthus perennisl.
Their national diet consists of milk, kakuruE
(hominy, with butter, etc J. and boiled NUT
ton, and they seem to feel that their Tur-
koman jaws need something more substan-
tial The schoolboy habit Of gnawing pen
holders, tinger-nail,, etc, NAV have sim
liar significance The Nimosd sligua
would yield abundantly in our other South
ern States and its sweet pods would make
an excellent substitute for chewing gum.
Our practice of slipping ce-cold and steam
ing hot drinks, turn about, has also a very
injurious effect upon the brittle substance
that forms the enamel of our teeth no
porcelain glaze would stand such abuse for
any length OF time, and experience has
taught hunters and dog -fanciers that it de
stroys even the bone crushing fangs of the
animal from which our canine teeth derive
tha,r