Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1914-11-13
WHY IeETH DECAY.

Carries, or decay OF the teeth, 10 the
most prevalent disease known to man.
Dr. Marshall asserts that In q practise
both civil and military Of more than
forty years in which he examined
many, thousands of mouths he has met
but four persons who. having reached
adult life. were free from every form
Of dental or oral disease. Decay of
the teeth. seems to be pre-eminently .
disease Of higher civilization, as 1t 10
most common among those nations
which are recognized as having the
highest culture.
Tones reports having examined the
mouths OF 1893 English boys and girls
at the Hanwell and Sutton schools
and at the Exmouth training ship.
These boys and girls ranged from
three and one.half to seventeen
years Of age. OF all those ex-
amined II per cent we're affected with
decay of the teeth. 1.-TWO hundred
and FIVE children belonging to high
class schools did not compare favor
ably with those Less fortunately
placed" Cunningham found that IN
1857 pupils Of the age Of twelve
years in English and Scotch schools
S5.S per cent had dental decay.
The statistics lately compiled OF
children six to fourteen and youths
twenty to twenty.three years OF age
in Germany by the recommendation
Of Rose, are no less lamentable," says
the same investigator.
We are in the midst Of strong
movement for conservation; waste
and loss are measured and carefully
considered from every point OF view
and the gospe! of efficiency Is being
preached in and to every line OF busl'
ness.
All this effort will be lost unless
men and women as good and compe'
tent as those now being standardized
are raised to succeed the present
workers. Obviously this is not being
done, because the available evidence
appears to prove that the teeth Of the
present generation seem to be inferior
to those of their immediate ancestors
while the children Of today have, as .
rule, even a greater predisposltion 70
dental diseases than their parents,
Decay Of the teeth is a symptom OF
body impoverishment, evidence OF tho
lack of that element or elements IN
the body juices and tissues which en-
able the individual to resist the AZ.
tack Of micro-organisms, be they OF
tooth decay or other disease. Tho
authorities are agreed that decay OF
the teeth is caused by an agent act
ine from without, never from within
the tooth. 1T is something extrane-
GUS to the teeth acting upon the sur
face in the beginning and penetrating
little by little into It's substance.
The medical profession has given
careful attention to practically every
organ of the body except the mouth.
Here we have an open. moist ana
warm cavity approximately twenty
three square inches in area, not IN
Guiding the tongue and tonsils, ma
king an ideal incubator. The 1nvesti'
cations Of Miller. Black, Robin Goao.
hv Vicentini and others show that
orr mouths at various times and un'
der varying conditions contain moro
than 100 different species Of micro-of-
ganisms.
Tests show that these organisms
will be found in the mouth OF prac'
tically everybody. They are as nu'
nervous in the mouths of those VINO
n,as into old age without ever having
had a decayed tooth, and they grow az
abundantly in these healthy mouths as
n tho mouths of those whose teeth
have the strongest tendency to decay
Teeta also prove the saliva from
these healthy mouths to be as acid AZ
that from the mouths predisposed 10
disease. and cultures taken from them
develop bacteria of the same character
and v,rulence as cultures taken from
the mouth Of one whose teeth are
most susceptible to decay. The dill
ference between decay and soundness
Ia one of personal resistance, assisted
Nv cleanliness. This is proved by the
,sct that a sound set of teeth at TWEEN
tv wears or beyond will frequently DIS
,nteerate and decay during an attack
~, some. fever or other 'enervatins
ecute disease and that lactation ire
ouently costs the mother one or more
teeth If she is not very care1u"S
watched and her vitality guarded.
The rapid increase in tooth decay
.,mn,v means that nature is overta1eo
and unable to balance accounts. sne
:. unable to manufacture resistant It's
s,ea mt Of lifeless materials, and IN
loss we intelligently co-operate we
sha,, surely pay the penalty Tor our
stnntdity by rearing a race OF weak
i,nes for future citizenship.
He Feared the Coffin.
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