The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-12

reputable dentists to whom it can fur
state today, in round numbers, one
dentist for every $500 citizens. This
is a fine showing, considering now
many of each of the $500 may be ,ba-
bies who have teeth coming to them,
or are wholesome, sensible people who
take good care of their teeth them
selves; not to mention the polltical
suckers who hang on the hope of get
ting into Office and don't need any
teeth.
But seriously-it is not far out OF
line to say that the community may be
judged by the dentist in 1t. II he
wears good clothes. keeps his office In
condition, supports his family, buys
an automobile, or drives good horse.
is a member of the church in gooo
standing, and an all round genial gen.
tIemanly factor in the best society OF
the place, that community may be set
down as having a progressive spirit,
knowledge of hygiene, and an eye TOT
personal beauty, and now Tar sooo
teeth are an essential feature In IT..
A community that is not St1ngy, pays
its bills promptly. has culture ana
right notions of the worth OF charac.
ter AS a man thinketh, SO is ne,
provided he doesn't have to be THINK
ing of his teeth. And the dentist IN
the community can soon help MIN INTO
TlRnC Co0oAiS ~ S~-O
pie specimens of the craft on exhibit
ton here tonight. and the large num-
Der of them, the high standard OF the
state is assured
Another need I wish to mention is
unification. There ought to be uniform
ity in standards of requirement in
dental colleges. Our business is not
local. Bridge work in California is
the same as in Maine. An liberated
tooth in Mississippi needs the same
treatment as one in Michigan. II
dentist is successful in Seattle he Will
he lust as successful in Little Rock
There is need for uniformity in state
laws regulating dentistry so that a
man qualified in one state is quahhed
in every other state. Our association
may as we'll become aggressive ana
push this matter of uniformity In pro-
fessional demands. In coilege stan
dards and legal statutes we nave
among us men of national reputation,
and men who by their merits as writ
ers and thinkers deserve to nave ma
tional recognition. These men can
render lasting service to the calling
they honor be belonging to 1t II they
will combine in agitating this matter.
The results will be benefit to the
whole dental fraternity. Backed by
higher scholastic and professional
ideals this uniformity would hit the
whole profession to a higher and
more sensible plane.
"There is another thing that could
be a wonderful aid to US in our work,
and that is the training of the public
mind to a better understanding OF
things dental. Many people do not
stop to think how the health of the
whole body may be preserved by the
proper care of the teeth. They do
not appreciate the need for the regu-
lating and caring for children's teeth,
and what it will mean to them in
good health, comfort and beauty.
"This knowledge should be made
general by text books on oral hygiene
in our public schools. Lectures before
teachers Institutes and mothers
clubs, calling attention to these things
would help to make them better I'M
derstood Popular magazine articles
would reach the reading public, i'm
pressing these important facts home
to the intelligent mind.
Permit me, in closing, to round up
this last thought in a beautiful senti-
ment I found recently. Inc writer
said:
do not keep the alabaster boxes OF
your love and tenderness sealed up un-
til your friends are dead, but fill their
lives with sweetness. Speak approving
and cheering words while their ears
hear them and while their hearts can be
thrilled and made happier by them. The
kind things you will say after they are
gone say before they go. The flowers
you mean to send for their collins. be-
stow now, and so brighten and sweeten
their homes before they leave them.
eff my friends have alabaster boxes
laid away, full of fragrant perfumes of
sympathy and affection, which they
intend to break over my dead body,
would rather they would bring them
now in my weary and troubled hours,
and open them, that may be refresh
ed and cheered while 1 need them and
can enjoy them. 1 would rather have
a plain coffin without a flower, and
funeral without an eulogy. than life
without the sweetness Of love and
sympathy Let us learn to anoint our
friends beforehand for their burial
Post-mortem kindness cannot cheer the
burdened spirit Flowers on the coffin
shed no fragrance backward over the
weary way by which the loved ones
have Travelled"