The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1900-02-02

his dental clinic IS per cent. are in
need 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
ur to Z; per cent. M. Daily estimates
the proportion of children who are in
urgent need of dental care to be IS
per cent, at least.
A 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-
hcnded in the lyceums it 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.
2. That they be placed in this re-
gard in better practical conditions
than those 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? 1t is doubtful, for, generally,
the dentists begin to treat their clients
Gully when it is too late to save them.
Many explanations were given of this
earliness of dental impairment among
the children. The blame was laid on
dyspepsia, the abuse of sweets, GER
tain drinks-such as cider, and on the
quality of drinking water. Some
spoke of the influence of cerebral IA
tigue. DR.. Sherwood 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 TAX
ing them from their studies. Accord
ing to Magitot too assiduous applica-
ton Injuries the good development
and preservation of the teeth of the
pupils of the Ecole Polytechnique. All
that is possible and no one denies the
influence of these auxiliary condi-
TONS But the true cause, rest as
sured 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 as the washing of
the other parts of the body?
On this subject of buccal hygiene,
we must admit the superiority of the
negroes of Africa.
DIR. Haffin, who practices medicine in
CAMERON, estimates that not less
than As minutes a 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,
chewed at both ends. Each native
possesses his own stick, but is not
above using his neighbours. The opin-
ion of the natives, indeed, is that the
more they have been used, the better
they are. DR.. Haffn, who declares
the usage of the "stick" to have been
satisfactory to him, confesses that he
did not personally verify this latter
state ment.
Does it surprise anyone, after that,
that the negroes have such white
teeth! And compare this African
cleansing of the mouth with the care
lessness of so many whites for the
toothbrush.
A physician of the navy used to tell
story of his having had tooth brushes
distributed to his men, whereupon
they, not knowing what use to make
of these instruments, employed them
in polishing their buttons.
And recently German paper cited
the following, from forest inspect
or: "This worthy functionary, watch
ing the unpacking of the trunk of one
of his subordinates, and admiring the
way in which the young mans mother
had carefully furnished him with so
complete an outfit, exclaimed: The
fellow even has toothbrush
For how many is this toilet article
also an article of luxury!-Courier des
Etats Unis.