The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1911-06-20
THE NECESSITY OF SCHOOL
INSTRUCTION IN DENTAL HYGIENE

II oou 10 hSpS ihseihStiNciy AWAY ho"
the side where the decayed tooth is.
and nature insists on removing use
less organs, 1t soon comes about that
the gums soften, become spongy and
inflamed, and the teeth losen and fin.
ally fall out. In the mean time every
breath taken is germ laden and car
ries into the lungs. not health giving
pure air, but poison to be passed on
to the remotest tissues
A person careless of his own teeth
will, of course, too unaffected by the
discomfort that his bad breath caus-
rs to those Obliged to associate with
him, and advise him will he like
pouring water on a ducks back.
1t is. most unfortunate thing for
this country that none-tenths Of the
people have not the knowledge, od
energy, to protect their teeth, and
that only a very small percentage
anew enough to protect the teeth of
their children. There is nothing more
| ldlotic on earth than to see parents
worrying about the looks of their
childrens clothes, while allowing
their teeth. that would protect them all
their lives TO go to ruin. The child is
taught to wash the hands, to battle
the body. but the human mouth, the
very vestibule OF life, is left wholly
without intelligent care. The first
teeth are ruthlessly extracted either
upon the slightest sign of an ache, %
when the parent can no longer stand
the crying of he child. How can the
little ones be expected to develop into
healthy men and women If they are
robbed of efficient means to triturat
their food at a time when good nour-
ishment is more than at any other
time vital necessity?
1t is clear hat the colossal spread
of dental carries IN all strata of the
population carries with it great
danger to public health, and this fact
can not be emphasized too often and
too loudly.
The neglect of the teeth, is perhaps
one of the earliest, most immediate.
and far reaching causes of disease, a
fact which alone should urge the ad.
visibility of making dental hygiene a
matter of public instruction.
Nowhere do human beings congre-
gate more closely and constantly than
in the school room, and nowhere can
contagious diseases be more easily
propagated. Light and air, and clean
illness OF face and hands, and apparel
on the part of our children are now
considered indispensable requirements
OF nearly every public school through.
out the country, but the fact is ut.
terly disregarded that single un.
clean mouth despite all superficial
precautions, may vitiate the atmos
phere OF school room. and become a
fruitful source of disease What place
more appropriate than the school
room, therefore, for instilling into .ae
mind of youth the necessity for clean
illness of the teeth and mouth
In enumerating the reasons for in
Producing dental hygiene into the
schools, | do not here dwell upon the
elements OF beauty, of which the
| teeth are so important a requisite
| and the thousands of distorted faces
but entirely to the early loss of the
teeth. In view of the startling facts
concerning the deplorable condition OF
the teeth among our younger genera
ton an exposition of the aesthetic
side of the question would seem al
most superfluous.
Public Investigations conducted
abroad, have demonstrated that the
deplorable condition of the children's
teeth is not due solely to neglect. but
also TO heredity, an additional reason
for the exercise of hygienic measures
At once.