The St. Johns herald., 1900-03-03
DENTAL DECADENCE,
Europeans Are Alarmed Over Goa
 6ition of Their Teeth.
MedaeaS Authorities Have fer seaas T1me Been Exercised by the Neglect Sf Javeaale
 HyRteA@v

HygieAe.
 | A writer in the Dentizt has raised cry of alarm about the dental de cadence of the English people. He calls attention to the early rayages which carries is making upon the teeth of English children. and calls for pre- ventive measures against state oi affairs which he regaSis as nation al calamity" Among IT'S children. whose mouths he examined, he found 1 S,357 bad teeth.
 He ia justly alarmed by this figure, and he calls the attention of all the schoolmasters and schoolmistresseA to this too-much neglected point of ju- venile hygiene. The remedy which he advocates is a dental inspection to be made regularly and systematically by skilled dentists in all the public schools
 If English teeth are in danger, there is no reason to feel more secure con- corning the future of French teeth. The French dentists are not less pes- simistic than the director of the Eng fish review. According to pr. Pictkie- viez, out of the whole number of pu- pills of the public schools brought to his dental clinic s per cent. are. in nted of immediate treatment, and by adding to these the number of those who, without being seriously affected, need careful watching and treatment sooner or later, the total is brought III to 75 per ceRt. M. Daily estimates the proportion of children who are in urgent need of dental care to be S5 per cent, at least.
 4 few years ago La Societe de Mede- cine Pratique did not consider this question of too little importance to occupy its attention, and after & rigid criticism of the manner in which cor poreal hygiene is in general compre- kcnded in the lyceumS 1t made the following recommendations:
 1. That the pupils of the colleges and lyceums be required to take the neces- sary care, morning and night, of their mouths and teeth.
 9. That they be placed in this re- gard in better practical conditions than these at present offered them.
 3. That they be all examined at the beginning of each quarter (three months) session by the dentist at- tached to the establishments.
 Have those recommendations been needed? It is doubtful, for, generally, the dentists begin to treat their clients eIEly when it is too late to save them- Many explanations were given of this carliness of dental impairment among the children. The blame was laid on dyspepsia, the abuse of sweets, cer- tain drinks-such as cider, and on the quality of drinking water. Some spoke of the influence of cerebral fa- tigue. Dr. Silerwood remarked that with children who study hard the teeth deteriorate rapidly after these children enter school, and nothing stops the progress of the evil but talk ing them from their studies. Accord ing to Magitot too assiduous applica- tion injures the good developments and preservation of the teeth of the pupils of the Ecole PoFytechnique. All that is possible and no one denies the influence of these auxiliary condi- tiona. But the true cause, rest as- sBred of it, is the neglect or ignorance of the toothbrush. Many parents, in this respect, seem to be inspired by the remark of Calino: "Why do peo- pie wash their hands every day and never wash their feet?" Children are taught to clean their faces every day; but how many are unaware until the age of reason, and the age of reason is sometimes late in coming, that the daily washing of the mouth and teeth is as indispensable es the washing of the other parts of the body?
 On this subject of buccal hygiene, we must admit the superiority of ths negroes of Africa
 Dr. Haffin, who practices medicine in Cameron, estimates that not less than 45 minutes day are devoted by everybody in this country to cleaning the teeth At sunrise each morning, and after each meal, the mouth is carefully rinsed, and several times in addition the teeth are rubbed and cleansed with dry sand or with the "tooth-stick."
 This stick Is a root six inches long, ehewed at both ends Each native possesses his own stick, but is not above using his neighbor's. The opin- ion of the natives, indeed, is that the more they have been used, the better they are. Dr. Haffin, who declares the usage Of the "stick" to have been satisfactory to him, confesses that he did not personally verify this latter state ment.
 A physician of the navy used to tell a story of his having had toothbrushes distributed to his men, whereupon they. not knowing what use to make of these instruments, employed them in polishing their buttons.
 And recently alderman paper cited the following, from a forest inspect