The Washington herald., 1913-07-08

I .,poe these cavities are known to con-
| tain disease germs which may attack
the wearers of the cavities themselves
and spread disease through the infec-
| ton Of others.
SIT is a fact, well known among med
icaI men, that these cavities may con-
| tain and spread the germs Of such
dreadful diseases as tuberculosis, diph-
iberia, pneumonia, influenza, and other
known infections. which enter the body
through the respiratory organs; and II
is confidently believed by many, who
ought to know such things, that scarlet
fever. measles, whooping cough. and
mumps are respiratory infections and
subject to the same laws. So that neg
lected cavities in any mouth may be-
come the incubators and carriers OF
these and other dreadful diseases and
plague a whole community in time.
May start Disease.
Particles of food left between the teeth
and then pass into the blood and system.
This poisoning of the system through the
Introduction Of putrescent material into
the blood is technically known as .sepsis' !;
and these putrescent materials or sub
stances which accumulate in the cavities
Of teeth and pass into the blood and sys-
TEN from the mouth are discussed in the
books under the head Of oral sepsis.' The
advanced thought of the enlightened age
in which We live Is FAST waking up to
the fact that the condition of the mouth
and especially of the teeth of both adults
and children should receive much more
careful and thorough attention at the
hands OF both physicians and surgeons,
as well as Of dentists. since oral sepsis'
is now known to be the source Of many
diseases which might be warded of and
prevented by mouth cleanliness. or oral
hygiene.
matters of teeth and dentistry. 1t has
become the broad matter or 'sepsis' and
'anti-sepsis.' It concerns every branch
OF the medical profession, and it concerns
every one who Is charged. in any way.
with the preservation or conservation Of
the public health of a community.
1T is not the individual matter of
Reglecting ones own teeth. 1t is the
general and more or less public matter
OF neglecting what may become a great
Infection and involve the spread Of an
infectious disease. for the existence Of
which no victim, subsequent to the first
one, may be primarily any more re-
sponsible than he would be for the con-
traction from the public air of typhoid
fever or tuberculosis. The neglect of
one individual in this respect may in
volve and jeopardize the safety of a
whole community.
Dangers of Oral Scpsis.
The danger feature of oral sepsis Is
twofold; it threatens others besides the
one responsible for its existence in any
given case. Its danger to the respon-
sible one carrying 1t lies in the fact that
the whole of il may be swallowed and
absorbed into the lymphatics and the
blood; but its danger to others than the
responsible one carrying 1t lies in the
fact that its disease germs may spread
by infection and breed an epidemic. I'm
like the sepsis of an open sore. ulcer.
or wound on the surface of the body
from which the poison may escape by
free discharge on the surface. oral sepsis
affects. in the first place. the whole of
the alimentary tract, from the tonsils
downward, and may bring on every de-
gree and variety. of tonsilitis. pharyn-
gifts, and gastric troubles; and it ef-
fects, in the second place, the glands in
the form of septic-anemia. puerpural-
fever, or septicimia.
1T affects the joints in the form of
arthritis, the kidneys in the form Of
nephritis, the liver in the forms Of dis
orders. and the whole nervous system,
generally; so that oral anti-sepsis, which
forms part of oral hygiene. is common
ground in the science of medicine-ground
upon which the physicians, the surgeons,
the eye, ear, nose or throat specialist:
the dentist, and all other specialists,
whether in the diseases of children. the
diseases of the stomach, the diseases of
the blood, the diseases of the skin, or any
other disease to which human flesh is heir
may meet and co-labor on terms of equal
responsibility.