Birmingham age-herald., 1894-08-03
TOLD BY THE TEETH.
HOW YOUR BENT OF CHARACTER IS REVEALED TO THE DENTIST.

Teeth For Japanese Women.
 "Character and temperament may be as clearly and as easily read in the teeth of man or woman" said an expert the other day, "as these attributes arc shown in the expression of the eye or the form of the head ''
 This sort of character reading, by the way, is one of the arts of modern dental science, and the skilled dental surgeon is just as good a character reader as the phrenologist The method by which char acter and temperament are discovered through the teeth was strikingly shown by dental exhibit which was on view in the Lincoln building in Union square, which had been brought on from Chi cago. Tho exhibit was little ornamental table containing teeth chosen as types of the four classes of temperaments into which the dental sharps divide all man and woman kind.
 These classes are the grabbed or bilious temperament the sanguineous or hopeful, ardent and confident nature, the nervous and vigorous and energetic character, and lastly the lymphatic or sluggish and sloth- iul character. All these characteristics are Indicated, so the dentists assert. by the color, form, surface appearance, articula- ton, gum margins and palate markings of the teeth and mouth.
 '.In persons of bilious temperament for example, the expert said, 'the teeth have a strongly marked bronze yellow hue, and they are large in form and inclined to be angular, and their length exceeds their breadth. The surface of the teeth shows transverse ridges, is slightly translucent and abounds in strong lines. The teeth in such persons are always firmly set, close together and well locked, and the gum margins are heavy and firm and angular in outline The hard palate ridges are heavy and rugged and squarely set.
 1.-The man or woman of confident na- ture, '' the expert continued, "has translu- cent cream yellow teeth, well proportioned md abounding in curved and rounded lines, with rounded cutting edges. The surface of such teeth is fairly brilliant in luster, is smooth, with translucent cut ting edges and rounded depressions and elevations. The articulation of such teeth is moderately firm, and it is noted that the jaw has tendency to rotate in masti- eating The gum margins are round and full, both in respect to length and breadth, and the palate ridges are numerous, grace full in outline and well rounded.
 You can invariably tell the active, nervous temperament by the pearl gray or grayish translucence of the teeth The length of the teeth in a nervous person predominates ever the breadth, and the cutting edges are both fine and long. The surface of the teeth is both brilliant and transparent, and the impressions and el- evations abound in long curves. The ar- ticulation of such teeth is long and very md ba al icate and shapely and marked by oval curves, while the palate ridges arc close, not numerous and small and long in form. IHuther words, the mouth of the nervous tempered person is adorned with the ideal of perfect teeth.
 Last comes the slow going person whose temperament the doctors class as Emphatic. You can spot the teeth of such persons by their opaque or muddy color md by their large and unsightly form, and their breadth exceeds their length always. In such persons the surface of the incisors is unmarked by the usual depressions and elevations, and they are opaque in finish even at the cutting edges. Such teeth are flat and loose in articulation, tho gum margins are thick and irregular in shape, and the palate ridges are sparse and flat. They are the poorest kind of teeth.
 This scientific classification and study of the teeth the expert continued, lis ono of the evidences of the great advance of dental surgery in America over the k,1I.,nethods of tho war days. Science
 ically robbed dentistry of all tho
 made the visit to the dentist
 kprmy times an ordeal before
 npgest heart quailed Pain
 ctically Il thing of the past,
 las been so enhanced that it I
 5shers the patient no more
 dentist of skill operate on his
 6n to have his shoes polished.
 drilling and filling of the teeth,
 lch in the old days were even worse than fhe pulling of the aching molar, have now lost all of their annoyance. The latest mod ern appliance for this work is a drill run by electricity that performs tho work with great ease and marvellous speed The drills themselves are made of such finely tenn pered steel that they will bore a hole in tempered steel itself as readily as they per forate the material of the tooth.
 An instance of the immense variety of tho modern dental implements is shown in the fact that of pluggers alone used in filling tho teeth there are 436 kinds, no two of which are exactly alike, and there are 50 delicate implements expressly made for the tender work of operating in close proximity to the nerves. The implements for excavating the teeth number nearly 900, and these are nearly 100 different kinds of dental chisels. By modern expe- dients for temporarily "deading pain" all these implements can be used by the den tai surgeon without the slightest discom- fort to the patient who would in the old tlays have suffered considerably Modern Improvement has also brought about re- form in the dental chair, and the latest chair of the kind, which is part of the out fit worked by electricity, is furnished with such an astonishing number of ball and socket joints that it is impossible to ar range it so that the patient, no matter Lie siaa L,,ild ,.zill h., in