The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-01-12
ATALK ON TEETH.
Their Preservation the Greatest
Barrier to Looks of Age.

Few people, comparatively speak
ing, appreciate the importance of car
ing for the teeth as they should. The
following article from the Richmond
Times is so full of valuable hints on
this subject that we reproduce it for
the benefit of our readers:
Let woman, if she only be thirty
five, lose her teeth through some ms
fortune, and she becomes at once a
crone of seventy, with hollow cheeks
and sunken jaws, feeble voice and
every appearance of an age which she
is far from actually possessing.
Therefore, appealing to feminine
vanity, if not to her own personal
sense of daintiness, we plead for greater
attention to be paid to these strong
points in woman's list of attractions.
The mother should see to it that the
little one too small even to hold a
tooth brush has its little "quarelets of
pearl" rubbed thoroughly at least
twice day.
Cleanliness prevents unsightly decay
and the consequent loss of our best
friends, therefore too great care can
not be taken in seeing that every
article of food is removed both from
the surface of the teeth, but between
them likewise after each meal. This
practice not only saves us from that
most gnawing and much dreaded an
guish known as toothache, but ipsures
a sweet and fragrant breath, in itself
an attraction most potent and desira-
bic.
Teeth should be washed as thor
oughly on the under side as where the
surface is exposed to view, and where
it is much easier 70 manipulate the
brush. Children are especially care
less in this particular, and think if they
give their teeth a good brushing where
their efforts will show then everything
is all right, forgetting that particles OF
food at the back or between them will
go on causing decay, regardless of the
perfunctory brushings that have never
touched the hidden enemies.
The teeth are of two mineral sub
stances, enamel and dentine, the
former the hardest, but once it is at,
tached by tartar or disease the decay
quickly penetrates to the softer sub
stratum, and frightful toothache and
unsightly cavities are the result. The
/ tiniest evidence Of decay should re-
ceive prompt attention. Our teeth
are not TO be trlf1ed with, and, like
the proverbial stitch in time with its
economical warning, little filling
not only saves the tooth, but is much
less expensive than the cementing up
of much larger cavity.
Teeth should be cleaned as relig-
iously before going to bed as the
saying of our prayers, for 1t is during
the hours of s'eep that the acids gen
Grated by the itod that has not been
removed from the mouth do their
deadly work on enamel and define.
Extremes of heat and cold are most
injurious, and should be faithfully es-
chewed. When out of doors in very
cold weather the mouth should be
kept closed for this reason.
Decayed teeth contaminate Others
as we'll as pollute the breath, and should
be filled if not beyond hope Of saving,
or, if mere shells, removed before they
cause serious illness, either of neu-
ralgic or more dangerous form. All
tooth powder and washes should be
antiseptic as we'll as cleansing. Any
that promise, however, to make the
teeth very white should be avoided, as
they are apt to eat the enamel. For
irritated gums, as we'll as soothing
toothwash, few drops Of the tincture
of myrrh in little water is an old
fashioned but very reliable remedy.