Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-02-17
THE roorHaCHE.
What should be D0ne-By an English
Family Doctor.

Exchange.
The experience Of most medical men, and
that OF the older dentist-surgeons, seem to
prove that ailments of the teeth and gums, with
decay OF the former and consequent toothache,
are rather on the increase than otherwise. / do
not pretend to be able to advance any theory as
to the cause; their name may be legion; but
nevertheless the fact remains that FIVE out Of
every half-dozen young men. or young women,
suffer either Inconvenience or positive pain from
decayed teeth. If were pressed to give an
answer to the question: Why is this so? should
reply that the causes vary with the cases. In
herited weakness of the constitution is doubt
less o2e principal cause of decay in the dental
organs. Dyspepsia, no matter how produced,
is certainly another, and here l may add that
cause and effect often change places.
Another cause of dental degeneration is the
abuse of what is called 'beer," and of the
thousand and one vile mixtures sold under
the name OF wines and spirits. Neglect of
Cleanliness and carelessness in the selection
of tooth-powders, will also lead to decay Of
the teeth, and so, too, will excessive smoking.
mention fast living. which tends to weaken
the whole system, nervous. muscular and
periOsteal; and the abuse OF medicines, es-
pecaly mercury.
Now, while sojourning lately for a short
time on the other side of the Atlantic.
could not help noticing that carries of the
teeth, especially those in front, was far more
common in America than even in England,
But was struck at the same time with the
fact that our Yankee cousins take much more
care of their teeth than We do. Dental surgery
Is quite an institution of the country. An
American goes to have his teeth seen to with
as much regularity as he visits his hair-dresser,
and even those among them who have not many
greenbacks in their pockets have plenty of gold
In their mouths
Well. with reference to my present paper,
shall be quite satisfied that have done some
little good If l can but succeed in impressing
upon the minds of few of my readers these
truths: First, that the teeth are of the utmost
Importance to the economy of the system;
second, that their decay is dangerous to the
instances be checked; fourth, that toothache is
In nearly every instance durable and prevent
able
A tooth consists of three parts, or rather, I
should say. is easily divsible by the anatomist
into three; the crown, the portion exposed;
nxed In the jaw; and the neck the portion
that joins the two. and is covered by the
loose gum. Furthermore, every tooth is hol-
low. and contains the dental pulp, which is
well supplied with blood vessels and nerves.
and Is extremely sensitive. The greater part
Of the tooth is composed of what Is called
dentine. or ivory; in reality it is bone, but much
harder in its construction than any of the other
bones of the body. The cementum, which covers
the roots, or 1angs is more nearly allied to true
bone. while the covering Of the crown or ex.
posed portion of the tooth, is dignified by the
name Of enamel. It is intended by nature to de-
fend the crown from decay, IT being OF so hard
structure that even acids have little effect on
it.
Ifthis enamel is worn off either In the ordinary
n6-to hut int,
use OF tooth-pOwders, one can easily understand
how decay (caries) of the tooth may speedily
follow.
Now, no one will doubt how important It is to
possess really good and capable teeth. who re-
members that mastication is the very first pro-
cess OF digestion. But mastication does not
mean merely the division of the food into por-
lions small enough for the stomach to have
easy power over; it means in addition, the
proper minglng or fixing Of the food with the
saliva.
Decayed teeth are powerless to perform their
duties, but this is not all; they even poison the
1Ood-tO some extent, at all events-which is
partaken of; indigestion is the consequence.
Indigestion means badly formed chyme and
chyle; from these the blood is manufactured.
and 1T is needless to remind the reader of the
many Ills and ailments that may arise from un-
healthy or Impoverished blood.
1t can easily be perceived, then. how carries of
the teeth may work incalculable injury to the
teeth may be checked; and an attempt to do so
should always be made. if only for the reason
that carries in one tooth, il neglected, is almost
certain to effect the Others adjoining it, and SO
the disease spreads.
The chances of permanent cure depend
greatly upon the extent to which the decay has
spread. II only small hollow exists the dem
fist will carefully remove the useless and dis
eased portions, and thereafter Just as carefully
MI 1t. II there be stin greater cavity then
there Is no doubt that the pulp has suffered, and
In such case the operation will be more
tedious, but none the less successful. If, how
ever, the tooth be mere SHE'LL and that shell
Itself not sound, it would be folly to go to the
expense OF the operations; it had better be ex-
tracted and the sooner this is done the less
chance will there be of subsequent suffering and
annoyance. Stumps are no good at ali, but
they may at any time be productive of deal Of
mischief. They may act as foreign bOdies-in-
deed, II quite dead they are nothing else-and
set up inflammation of the surrounding tissues,
which may lead to dire results.
II you make up your mind to consult DEN
tist as to the filling Of tooth, you will find it
cheaper and better in the long run to take adj
vice from man who really knows his work
Until lately nothing has been more easy than for
a person who has studied little Of the art of
dentistry, and thinks he knows all about it. to
put brass plate on his door and adopt the call
ing of dental surgeon.
How often, too, do we see in chemists shop
windows, especially in the poorer districts Of
London. the notice to the public, "Teeth care
fully extracted" The unhappy mortals who en-
ter within the portals, and venture to explain
their desires, are often handed over to the
tender mercies of some assistant. who. in
all probability, hardly knows the curve Of
root, and is just as likely as not
to put pressure in the wrong
direction, and probably break away a por-
ton of the alveOlar process of the Jaw. The
same shops will also sell their customers some
stuffing for hollow teeth, with or without the
directions, Carefully wipe dry the inside of the
tooth before inserting the filing" The pur-
chaser does as he is tOld-with what result /?
Why. that of making matters ten times worse.
increasing the caries making an end of the
tooth, and mayhap inducing abscess Of the jaw
For various reasons people often neglect tooth
or teeth until it is too late to do any good per-
haps there is no pain, so they do not trouble;
they think that teeth are things that even man
of middle age does not carry to the grave with
him; or. perhaps, they are afraid to 60 to see
dentist, afraid of pain to be incurred.
1t is true that for the NEST part the teeth de-
cay ere person reaches the age of fve-and-
forty. but should this be so? think not. Un-
less one is in reality constitutionally weak with
ordinary care extraneous decay may be guarded
against.