The Rathdrum tribune. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1903-1963, 1914-06-19
THE VALUE OF GOOD TEETH

York Children's Village.
To the Editor OF The Tribune:
Win you please provide space 70,
the following article? 1t consists Of
. very remarkable staten made By
Charles D. Hills, chairman Of the
republican national committee and
president of the New York Juvenile
association. Mr.. Hills having given
boys and their escapades great deal
Of study concludes that much OF the
youthful backwardness and indiffer-
ence to correct rules OF conduct Is due
primarily to decayed teeth and che
consequent inability to mastIcate
properly their food. Girls are not
included Ia these conclusions on the
generally accepted theory that girls
begin and continue throughout the
ages to do about right.
Mr.. Hills says: "Of the boys
received by the association 9l per
cent. suffer from bad teeth. and that
after two years OF care with a dentist,
together with practice 10 the gentle
art OF using tooth brush the boys
are turned out 90 per c,nt. good
instead OF 90 per cent. bad''.
This particular passage, BY Mr..
Hills struck me as very interesting:
Immediately upon admission to
the Chlldren's Village the boy Is sent
to the dentist. who makes q searching
examination Of his teeth. All possi-
BILE repairs are made; hopelessly de !.
cayed teeth are extracted; those less
seriously diseased are filed and
crowned. Finally there is q thorough
cleaning Of the teeth. Then the boy
is sent to his room with a toothbrush
and with paste. He experiences SO
much relief and experiences 1t 81
quickly that always the boy is glad t.
give his mouth and his teeth the
necessary attention.
"Regularly every six months each
boy the village visits the dentist.
Never again as long as he is with us
is he permitted to suffer because bis
teeth lack aftpntion
BY the time the boy has completed
his two years In the Children's vii
lage-thdt is the average length ol
his stay-he has approached tht
average for his years In size aud
weight. Every spring the village
sends squad OF boys into The West,
where amid new surroundings and
forgetting the stigma OF the past the,
begin useful life in the open coun'
try. Remembering that about 81
per cent. OF the boys are snbnOrma
when they come to us, that they are
moral delinquents, physical degener.
ates and mental detectives, IL Is i
thorough demonstration, / believe
that we are right when we say thai
the dentist is the greatest influence
for good known to us, that more thar
90 per cent. Of our boys make goot
and are successful after they leay,
us.n
Mr.. Hills told OF one boy, OF whom
the management is justly proud
When the boy entered the yillag
three years ago he had been stamp.
as thorough delinquent. He hat
bad teeth and for years had beef
unable to nasticate his food withou
pain. The dentist corrected b.
teeth, he began to improve ut ono
and last year he took flrst prize Ii
the village school for general excel
lence in bis work. He has bee
discharged as an inmate. but remain
at the village as an employee, draw
ing a fair salary. Twice week b
comes to New York to attend nigh
school.
That boy Is going TO make hl
mark In the world" Mr.. Hills said
.'He Is 10 his line a thoroughly con-
petent workman-he is better than
workman Is student and
making profession Of what anotht
boy would regard as a trade. It
impossible to estimate the got,
accomplished 10 that boys case |,
the dentist"
Mr.. Hills might, think, exten
| his doctrine as well to erown-ups q
to the youngsters. The value I
good teeth from moral. socia
physical and pathological standpoir
is beginning to be understood. TIL
tructooo ff m anv ri our nuhlic echnf,,