Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-23


dozen other things all with Indifferent
success. After ten years of effort to
find something dentist discovered
what has long been that greatest
nightmare of the dental chair, the rub
Der dam. Now the thoroughly modern
dentist has found ways to use absor-
bent cotton and other things which
serve the same purpose.
One of the most remarkable dental
operations of the day is the growing
of natural teeth into the gums where
others have been extracted. The idea
is not entirely new, but it is only in
recent years that it has proved sue
cessful. The tooth acquires all the
firmness and rigidity of the original
and is proof against aches. The use of
porcelain filings has also met with
favor wherever tried, and it is thought
they will become the filling of the flu
ture. Germany produces a sort of ce-
ment that becomes as hard as ada
mant when properly prepared. 1t is
possible to so color this as to make it
exactly match the tooth to be filled. 1t
can be prepared like the gold inlay
filling and then put into the TOOTH
with this the filings of teeth will be
more or less invisible.
But even with this the dentist is not
entirely satisfied. What he is looking
for is non-metal, plastic mineral sub
stance which can be used like the or
binary amalgam, but which will not
give the unsightly appearance of
amalgam filling. Many a dentist has
sought early and late and long for this
ideal filling, but as yet the effort has
been like the quest for ST. Brandons
isle or the chasing of the will o. the
wisp.
Artificial teeth came to US from
France. But it is declared that the
a Y11n II 20 Il fe=f
slightly, comfortable and durable teeth
than the Frenchmen With all their
progress the best of the dentists some
times sit at the feet of their patients
and learn things. Some years ago an
eminent dentist prepared a plate for a
patient. This patient had a very sens-
tive roof in his mouth, and the suction
of the plate gave him violent retchings.
He put salt on the plate for the pur-
pose of rendering its presence more
tolerable, and his dentist, who was also
professor of dentistry in the dental
department of state university, has
used the idea in his lectures ever
since.
The calling of the dentist is one
largely made necessary by civilization.
The natives of Africa never need a
dentist so long as they do not adopt
the superior civilization of the white
race. One of the best evidences of what
modern civilization will do for the teeth
is to be had in the case of the American
negro and the Indian. The one in
slavery and the other in his savage
state never knew such a thing as the
toothache. Now the gold crown, the
bridge work and the filing all tell of
the ruin being wrought to their teeth
by the things they eat under their
changed surroundings, As the infusion
of white blood in the veins of these
two races becomes more marked, it tells
even more quickly on the teeth than on
the skin.
Man is about the only animal that
needs a dentist, at least on the sunny
side of the prime of life. The dog and
the cat, the horse, the COW, every ami
NAL with which we are familiar, lose
their teeth, if at all, in very old age.
But with man the road to the dental
chair has to be travelled earlier by each
generation than by its predecessor.
Some scientists look to the time when
man will be completely emancipated
from the pangs of complaining teeth
They declare the need of the dentist
to be a blot on civilization, and that
some time in the great, golden future
man will learn to adjust his tastes to
the needs of his teeth.
Perhaps the most remarkable of am
the evidences of dental skill Is that of
changing the contour OF the race. VINO
has not seen the person with the pro-
truding upper teeth or the one with
the retreating chin? Modern dentistry
comes along now with a cure for those
detractions from personal beauty. More
often than not it is the child who sucks
his thumb that has the protruding up
per teeth. 1t all depends on the angle
at which he holds his thumb-or his
fingers. By a system of carefully con-
structed metal bands the dentist is able
to force the teeth back into normal
position, and thus transform the mouth
from one of unpleasant expression into
one with lips to match a cupid's bow.
No patent medicine advertisement with
a before and after" illustration ever
showed a more gratifying TRANSITIONAL
ton than the dentist Is able to show
with the retreating chin.
The leaders of the dental profession
will unhesitatingly declare that though
dentistry as a profession in America
has made great strides in the three
score and ten years of it's existence,
strides that have made it set the pace
for the whole world, it is yet in its
infancy as regards its progress, and
that the years to come will. bring
before. But they concede that the
greatest result of all will be the awak-
ening of people to proper understand
ing of the necessity of caring for their
teeth, starting when they are children.
Copyright 1909, by Frederic ]. Has1in.)
Tor ond Wido