New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-10
THE "HAPSBURG FACE"
Causes of Abnormal Contour.
From The London Times.

From The London Times.
The annual conference Of the British
Dental Association was continued al
London University yesterday. The presi-
dent, Mr.. w. B. Paterson, was in the
chair An interesting discussion on the
causes Of what Is known as the "Haps-
burg face" in which the lower jaw pro-
trudes. was raised by Mr.. William Rush
ton, of London.
Mr. Rushton's paper dealt with the
effect Of mouth breathing on facial con-
! tour. He said the disappearance or the
beautiful mouth" was bewailed by the
president Of the Society OF Miniature
! Painters, who attributed it to the siren
uous modern life. The lecturer himself
attributed it to mouth breathing.
The cases dentists were most frequent
ly requested to treat were those In which
the upper front teeth bit too far in front
of the lower ones. He had found no
instances in which this condition was
hereditary except inasmuch a 8 the condi-
lions which made for adenoids might be
hereditary. Some Of the early PORTRAITS
of the late queen Victoria showed this
condition plainly; ii was very common
in this country. The commonest form
of abnormaity, however, in his opinion,
AT any rate in adults, was that in which
the mandible was protruded rather than
! retractod. This was contrary 10 the
| textbooks and to the opinion or some Oh
his colleagues but his personal obserVa-
! tons convinced him that II was correct.
! He had also come TO the conclusion that
| in some cases this abnormality was
! hereditary, as in the royal houses OF
Hapsburg and Medici, where ii could De
traced for centuries. The reasons why
in some cases the lower jaw was pro-
truded and in others retracted were not
Known. He suggested that in both cases
the main factor was mechanical traction
caused by mouth breathing, the child
placing its jaw in the position OF least
resistance or Of greatest comfort.
Summing up his views, Mr.. Rushton
said he still believed that the main FACTOR
in ahnormalities of the Jaws and teeth
WAS slight continuous muscular action
caused bv the open mouth, the result Of
hypertrophied tonsils and adenoids; that
this hypertrophy was possibly caused by
affections OF the pituitary or thyroid, or
both, and possibly that softness OF the
bone arising from these causes allowed
IL to be more easily acted upon by mus
cular strain: that probably the condi-
ton was in many cases hereditary, but
whether primarily or as a result OF
mouth breathing he could not say.
He entirely denied that the type of face
occurring in the Hapsburg family was
necessarily Il sign OF degeneracy 1t was
type met with day by day. 1t was often
associated with large tonsis, adenolds
and mouth breathing in childhood. ana
was possessed by people probably neither
more nor less degenerate than others
The Austrian Hapsburgs were now al
most free from it, but the Austrian
ArchduchesS Maria Christina, mother or
the present King Of Spain, had ii and
so had her son, and it had made its APP
peararce in his children. But there was
no reason why the latter should have IL
if means were taken TO rectify the con-
dition in early life, and there was little
doubt with our present knowledge thar
the "Hapsburg jaw" was doomed 10 dis
appear, not only from that illustrious
family. but from many humber one. II
could not be too widely known that the
removal of the hypertrophied adenold
tissues was a preventive Of facial an
normality II performed in early life, and
even after certain amount Of nischlel
had been done IL could be largely or
completely rectihed by the dentist
The president invited discussion en- the
paper As the court dentist or SPAN
Or. Ag,lilar) was present, ne would per-
haps like 10 say something on this ques-
ton.
Dr. Agui!ar congratulated Mr. Rushton
or the way In which he had treated and
illustrated his instructive and interesting
paver but pointed out that In dealing
with this matter they must go back TO a
time before Macmillan, To the case OF
his predecessor. Henry " OF Castile' ~
whom the prognathic jaw was clearly
seen. He agreed with Mr.. Ruanton that
this particular type was no sign or
stigma OF dcgeneracy, for II had been
clearly shown that some Of the descend
ants Of MaXimilian had been men OF
very brilliant intellectually and Diners
az ,,reat nhVsical strength. lie had IN
his experience visited many lunaiic as\-
Itms and deaf and dumb institutions
without finding a single case OF such
conditions. The abnormal condition OF
the protludIng lower Jaw In idiocy was
due 10 the pressure of the tongue. rs 20
tho possibilities of correcting these ia
,ial abnormalitics, there was no doubt
that the race could he improved by per-
sistcnt treatment with some OF the
remedies mentioned by Mr. Rushton