Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-02

| pleased TO know that the new Army
act provides that a corps of dental sur
| eeonS shall be added to the army. and
| that Il board of examiners has already
been ordered To Washington to ex-
| anime applicants for the thirty places
provided for in the bill
me surgeon dentists must be grad
yates of recognized medical or dental
colleges, must be proficient in all
| branches of modern dentistry and of
| good moral character. These new
| officers Will have the rank OF first lieu
tenant. and Will wear the regulation
shoulder straps ana ornaments Of that
grade. except that they Will be Of sill
yer instead of gold. Between the silver
bars on the shoulder strap viii be the
letters ID. :" ana the collar OF the
uniform coat will have Il silver en-
broidercd cross on each side. There
will be 4 corps Of three supervising
dental surgeons, WHO will receive $40
a month. The balance of the corps viii
each receive $50 a month. All instru-
ments and necessary materill will BE-
furnished by the government, the den
fist will have neither dun season nor
y
for Office rent nor energy ana influence
in drumming up patients. but he Will
doubtless have enough hard work.
When men enter the army their teeth
are examined, and although this eX-
animation is superficial. the examining
officer must BE- satisfied that the
recruit has at least four sound double
teeth. one above ana two below on each
side of the mouth. and i'm such position
that they may he used for chewing. If
the front teeth are missing. ana the
double teeth remain. OF if the man has
only back teeth" he IS rejected. False
teeth are not considered the equiv
alents Of the natural article. In the
early days of the Republic and during
the Civil War the teeth of a soldier
We're examined more closely than they
are now. because il required good
grinders to maSticate the bareback
which formed one Of the staples Of
subsistence. The front teeth We're es-
sential to the soldier before the war
to hit" off the tip of the cartridge used
in the old muZzle loading guns. Des-
pite the fact that hardtack is not so
popular as it was. and that breech
loading rifles have made cartridge
DIllHS Il ltSl al 4. lettl ttttIIol dlt AZ
the service as well as out Of it. and
with an army of one hundred thousand
men and many women and children at
army posts the thirty new surgeon
dentists will probably find ample call
for their services ana their presence
viii be 4 boon to many sufferers.
In the early days Of the Republic.
when dentistry was practised by the
men who were really BARRIERS, but
pulled teeth and cupped or 'bled
vein'' also. soldiers could hope for little
relief when suffering with toothache.
1t has been related that the son Of one
of these barber-tooth pullers. who fol-
lowed the profession of his father.
made a set of teeth for George Wash
ington from the tusk of hippopot-
anus They We're carved by hand,
and held in place by spiral springs.
which pressed the two sets apart when
the mouth was open ana the natural
pressure removed. These teeth, with
their stiff springs, We're probably the
cause of the set expression about the
laws which is remarkable in the stuart
portraits of Washington. The maker
of these teeth wrote to Washington:
II send YOU inclosed two sets OF
teeth. one fixed on the Old bases. IN
uart and the set YOU sent me from
PHILADELPHIA, which. when / received
il, was very black. occasioned either
by YOUR soaking them in port wine. or
bv YOUR drinking it. | ADVISE
Won to either take them out after am
ner and nut them in clean water ana
nut on another set. or clean them with
q brush and some chalk Scraped fine.
This pioneer dentist of the PreSl-
dcntial household then instructs the
Father of His Country how to plug up
holes worn in his false teeth with seal
ing wax pressed in with a hot nail.
He concludes:
"If YOU want your teeth more yellow.
soak them in broth or pot liquor but
not in tea or acids. Porter is good
thing to color them. and viii not hurt'
but preserve, them. sir, me
additional charge is $13'
The army officers or enlisted men or
their wives and children Will fare Dcu-
ter if they require store teeth me
dental surgeons will be provided WIN
all the paraphernalia necessary FOR 40
inc, their work according to the moSt
modern methods, and operating chars
gas and painless processes Will take
aWay the horrors connected win
visit to the dentist in the far away
possessions as well as in the heart oi
al;