The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-07-07
A TOOTHLESS AGE.
nsurIsT SAYS IT Is NEAR At HAND
FOR CIVILIZED NATIONS.


~s.u.nnds Wearing Artificial Tseth-Dus
- the Food We Eat and Improper
C.rs Of Teeth The Civilized Lower Jaw
eating Too Small for Proper Number.
That 'toothless age" age Is near at
hand for this country, If not, indeed,
IN ihe entire civilized world, is the
Eeory of a dentist Of prominence.
sWe are becoming a toothless people,
md that very fast" says he.
"To begin with, l must make this
AID statement, We are becoming a
Gothess people, For otherwise how
an we account fol the fact Mat thou
eonds OF people to-day are wearing ar
Ecial teeth, and there are as many
thousands who would wear them il
hey could afford TO buy them? Look
a our little children at the age of two;
heir teeth are already decayed. Our
girls at the age of fourteen and sixteen
have beautiful teeth indeed, but do not
10 deceived. in many instances they
ere artificial. Our mothers and faith
ers at The age Of forty or fifty cannot
hoast Of having many sound teeth.
T"NoW, when you consider how much
seute differing and pain these people
ID through, how many sleepless nights
M restless days they pass before
hey arrive at that happy moment
men tley have gotten rid of their
Am teeth and can wear artificial ones
iktead, you will naturally ask your
Ell the question, Has the Creator
eIyen us these organs for temporary
ma and with the Intention of intlicting
mfenLg upon usf No, they were
ayen rs to last us through life. If
We do lose them prematurely and if
We do suffer eXcruciating pain while
ve have them, it is due to our own
carelessuess, negligence and ignorance
ofthe hfst principles of hygiene which
cavern de preservation of the teeth
and mouth
u can add to these statements: 1t
Il hot realized how the teeth are going
nithis generation. 1t is due to the
food we eat. to the artificial conditions
ofthe life Of to-day. to the lack of care
and the attention people give to their
months.
Now here is q case in point The
toothpick is not considered proper in
fashionable society after meals, and
floss silk is also never used. Yet
boil OF these, if people would only
realize it. are good things. After eat
ing particles of food are entrapped
befNeen the teeth. The toothpick or
fogS silk will carry them away But
thes remain, the particles of food de-
colnn0se and an acid is formed which
atfacks the enamel and finally COM
bins with the saltG of the teeth to de-
stro! them.
Teeth do not last as long as they
USED 10. My experience has taught
me'that of men and women from fifty
to GNty years of age from sixty to sew
entE live per cent. now have artificial
teetl. This statement seems astound-
Ing, but it is nevertheless true. There
Is Rental science enough to preserve
them, but people will not give DENTS
try d chance. They let them go, and q
minute vegetable organism collects up
on them. The enamel goes away, and
the dentine (the inside coating) is laid
bare: the dentine is attacked, and the
nerves and the blood vessels are ex-
posed; tile nerves are devitalized and
the teeth die
1t is this dentists theory that one
great reason of the country's progress
toward "toothless age" is due to
the lack of care of the temporary
neth of children. If these temporary
Neth are bad, he says, the permanent
teeth will be weakened And yet very
NnAe attention is paid to a child's
Ant teeth.
Thumb or finger sucking is a bad
habit for children" said the Doctor.
'By this habit the lower teeth are
fOreed inward, and the upper outward,
IMouth breathing also produces irregu.
\ Ilarity of the teeth. The most effective
way of breaking this habit is that en-
ployed by the Indian mother, who
DanaageS the mouth of the child, and,
n MAJ way forces it to breathe
thrQpgh the nostrils, or not at ALL"
Anpther important tendency the Doc
NJ Tor sayS he has frequently observed is
that the lower law is becoming more
and more contracted. 1t is now. he
says frequently necessary to remove
some of the maiden teeth. The mod
1em PAW brought about through mod
sdem considerations of living. cannot ac-
CONN 7date all the teeth nature gives
Us Hence the teeth, besides being
poorel year by year, are gradually and
steadily getting to a point where they
I'd will b. fewer
whenever there is decomposition of
pIganic matter" the dentist declared
Emnulnerable colonies of microbes
ne germS of disease, are generated.
nropSh a mouth thus infected fresh
pod is daily taken, and during the
loces Of mastication it is naturally
nlnaed with the decayed matter in
Kae Mouth and then is passed into the
for digestion. Is it astonish-
Pgnen why one suffers from indiges-
ION pr other diseases?
y NpCd health demands thorough di-
Suon, thorough digestion demands
T. RoiopEh mastication, thorough masti-
Auon demands sound and healthy
Dethp'