Evening star., 1896-10-24


AS result of dental deterioration, not
cniy the structure of our teeth is changing.
put also the anatomy of our jaw. The upper
wisdom teeth of civilized nations now have
ancient jaws show uniformly three dis
tinct roots The law of economy of
growth" has further determined that these
zen ,' ; snali decay readily, and in constant
suppressed altogether. Too, the first bi-
cuspio In the upper jaw is occasionally
tha h.issing. and these two classes of teeth,
the least useful in the set are times with
out number having to be removed now
auays because our narrowed jaw is over
crowded by complete set Of teeth.
eaNinsgeroWtghivenkn? mn NH hmm MN
the new woman would do something
for her jaw before 1t is everlastinely TOO
iate' she should chew gum. Ny dentist
olo tolo me that, other things being equal, to-
oacco cheWers have better teeth than nom
cheWers This is not on account of any
known virtue in the weed. but because of
Ihe exercise involved. If Mary Elizabe tn
Lease considers it unnianly to chew gum
sne may use tobacco. but whether gum or
tobacco Is the material employed the mus
cular effort expended in chewing Is in the
M Lile OF economic conservation, and for the
future OF our jaw we should chew some
thing.
Why Teeth Decay.
Ihe general decay of teeth would seem TO
lndlcate that the government has been
none too early in setting Prof. Atwater to
work to solve the problem of putting up the
nutrients of square meal in pill form, to
De swallowed without chewing. DR.. Beers,
Montreal authority estimates that in
American and Canadian cities of 30 600 peo-
PIE nor loo are to be found between the
ages OF four and fourteen who have es-
caped carries and premature loss of some
OF the teeth, and but for habitual recourse
10 dentists, the natural course of such raw
m ka
all toothless by the time they are FORTY
AnericaHs have the worst teeth on earth
Inis ls mainly due to our cross-breeding
ana our impaired nervous systems conse-
qoeht upon our intense activity. We do not
nave the sort of food our teeth need and
we do not take the time to chew what we
eat. Nobody chews his food nowadays" +"
says my dentist-'unless perforce ne lives
IN a Washington boarding house" Odd
isn't 1t, to think of Washington boarding
houses as great physiological reform insti-
tutions, serving tough meat with the noble
aim OF rescuihg fallen humanity from the
evils or dental deterioration. But in spite
of the great and good work these boaring
houses are thus carrying on, my dentist
tells me that IF the miller continues to i'm
prove the fineness of flour; if the cook
continues to improve in the art of making
dlshes FOR the palate only, and to mulu uply
the number Of highly seasoned, stomach
teasing compounds called fancy dishes:' if
the Kitchen stove continues to do our chew
iiiS ioT Us. IL we continue to QlSpatch our
food by the watch, and. instead if insali-
waiting the morsel, send it down under con-
Voy OF iced water or Scaiding coffee; il We
continue to limit our physical exercise to
the rocking Chair or to the Office stool; if
We continue to let, as Shakespeare says,
'sweaty haste make the night joint iaborer
with the day., a thousand years hence our
successors will be practically without bicus-
pids and molars, and the wearing of plates
or bridges will have become as common as
the wearing of Shoes.
Physical Degencracy.
Decay and disappearance are by no
means all, nor the worst evidences of phys
fcal degeneracy our jaws exhibit. Hideous
eccentricities of the formation of the ia VS.
and Of the positions of the teeth have be-
come SO common as to have occasioned the
development of a special branch of dem
tistry-dental orthopedia-the aim of which
is to straighten the position of the teeth,
and also to correct all deformities that are
due to malposition of the teeth or that
can be corrected through the medium of
the teeth This is accomplished by means
OF various appliances screws, springs
bands, bars-attached to the teeth when
the 1mmaturity of the bones permit them
to yield most readily to the proper force
which is directed not alone to changing the
position of the teeth, but to altering the
shape and position of the jaws themselves.
The deformities thus treated are the IA
miliar ones of mismatched jaws-one small
and receding the other large and prom
inent; also of a small jaw filled with large
teeth that are driven in the cramped space
TO appear anywhere out of line that an en-
trance be forced. These ahnormalities
are mainly due to the mixing of races in
marriage. For physiological reasons, there
fore. II man cares anything about the
future, he does well to consider the jaw of
a woman before marrying her. and some
knowledge of her mothers jaw also should
guide his choice, since heredity lapsing in
the girl might reproduce her mothers
characteristics in her children.
Dentistry and Hypnotism.
When 1 had asked questions eliciting gil
the foregoing information. my dentist sug-
gestively volunteered a statement Of how
much he enjoys filling the teeth of one of
the justices of the Supreme Court, who al
ways goes to sleep in the chair. Then be
went on to tell me that up in Boston is a
dentist Of exalted tation-as if any
other kind of reputation were permitted to
reside in Boston!-whe makes a practice of
hypnotizing all his patients. OF the seven
stages of hypnotic sleep. the dentist is able
to carry his victims-I mean his patients
into the fourth, that, too, by no other
means than the power of oral suggestion.
That is, for instance, he tells them thai
pecking at an exposed nerve will not hurt,
and-watch the professor. gentlemen-lo! it
does not hurt. This doubtless is true. At
all events it was told me by a man, and
not to believe anything man tells you
Well, heaven forbid such unwomanlinass
should ever be charged against
PAULINE PRY.
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