The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-27

yeafay becoming more widely known, presents an opportunity for those who cannot anord the expense of long and costly treatment to offer themselves as part of the education of young men
 who, under the tutelage of known specialists, are studying to become orthodontfsts. Among the patients are all sorts and conditions of wage earn
 CTS, students from schools and colleges,
 small children. and representatives of practically every civilized nationality. In one chair. for example sits a young woman who is studying music In Boston. Two months ago her front
 teeth So projected that 1t was impossi-
 Die for her to bite firmly enough on a lead pencil to hold it in place, but what disturbed her most of all was the fear
 that this deformity would blight her chances for bright career She came to the school hoping against hone Her
 teeth were 'harnessed' with the metal
 harness of the orthodontia treatment :.
 In other words. light metal spring
 based against two sound teeth at the
 back. which holds the teeth under
 treatment and subjects them to slow
 backward pressure was put in opera ton, with the result Of gradually fore ing the projecting teeth Into normal position. The difference Is already so noticeable that the pencil experiment can now be tried successfully; and when the operation is finished she will have teeth that for evenness and align ment might make the toothpowder peo- pie eager to use her photograph for an advertisement
 In another chair is law student who has found that the shape of the upper part Of his mouth interferes with the clearness of his speech and is slowly having the arch widened until the top of his mouth. as Nature intend ed. shall become a perfect sounding board. In third chair one sees school girl studying her French lesson between the moments when the student dentist, in his immaculate white coat, tests and re-arranges his apparatus and compares present conditions with the plaster model that shows what shape the teeth were in when he began treat ment. For the teeth must not only be kept constantly moving, but constantly moving In the right direction, till tho final moment when the upper and lower jaw shall come neatly and firmly to- gether. Each chair contains a differ ent problem and different future life history, and the scene is all the more dramatic on account of the fact that thaEolder men in white coats, who go from chair to chair criticising and as- sisting the students, are specialists whom mfllionaires or crowned heads might employ for similar service.
 The actual pain of the treatment is very little. It is much less a question of enduring pain than of getting used Co the constant pressure of wires grasp ing the teeth. The apparatus. of course. must be worn night and day during the long period of treatment and the person who is having his or her face changed sits once or twice week in the dentists chair while the orthodontist studies the progress of af- fairs and makes the various minor changes in the apparatus necessary to keep things going in the right direc- ton.
 The work of the specialist with the long name is in line with other devel- opments in dentistry that have given the modern dentist practically the whole lower face from the eyes down, as his especial field of operations. Cases of fractured jaw go nowadays to the dentist rather than to the surgeon. This Is a distinct gain to the patient. for the surgeon used to mend the jaw through an incision made fin the check while the dentist works through the mouth. And not only is the process less painful but 1t is much better In It's final results Fractured jaws are also much more numerous than the reader might suppose. The Harvard clinic, for example. averages one or more cases a day straight through the season. Be- sides. faces seriously injured either by accident or by disease have on several occasions been practically remodeled at these free clinics. In at least one case the entire side of face was replaced. Such cases are rare, of course, but where they actually happen the im- provement made by artificial methods. although not deceptive at close exami nation, is a great boon to the suffering patient, and Justifies calling the mod ern dentist a legitimate beauty doc- tor"