Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-01-14
Physician Declares Defective
MOlafS Create Desire
for SttmulantS

Battle Creek, Mich, Jan. l".-'1t may
seem a far cry from defective teeth to
drunkenness, and yet it is a possible
and perfectly log cal sequence said Dr.
c. n. johnson Of Chicago, in an address
here today before the National CONFER
ence on Race Bettcrment. .-.f,.
1T has long been recognized in a
general way hat the condition OF the
teeth has much to do with the general
health of the individual said DR.. john
son.
This question concerns us most in
growing children-not in the growing
children of the well.to-do perhaps, so
much as those of the great mass Of 'hu.
ticaIaAy ia aESk srsg Stltiess2 tslas grad
ualIy assimilatcdg into q ~ future y 4 Git
l!zensliip. aMHSa#Ws T.
4 ''.The damage is not merely negative
it may become very positive. The child
who is i'll nourished intuitively develops
a craving for stimulants. Observation
has demonstrated the fact that these
poor children who are suffering iron
defective teeth and cannot masticate will
consume enorm quantities OF cCffee Or
tea. And it is not fanc;ful togo one step
further. =. ST.. Ia "
1T may seem a far cry from rdefec-
tive teeth to drunkenness, and yet it is
a possible and u perfectly logical Sc.
quence. We are not giving these children
a fair chance if we permit them to grow
up with faulty mouth conditions.
"A general Infection of the system
sometimes results from an abscess on a
single tooth. These decayed cavities in
teeth also form an ideal culture place
for heterogeneous. Their is no 4ues-
ton but that they. have been-direct tu-
%berculosls infections from this source.
I'm the public schools Of Chicago
there was ut one time an epidemic of
scarlet fever. 1t was noticed that i'm
mediately following the return OF the
quarantined children to school new cases
developed among their associates. 1t &C.
Cured to the Commissioner Of Health, DR.
w. r.. Evans, that q child might carry
the germs Of scarlet fever indefinitely in
the tonsils or in the cavities Of decaycd
c III AI1SL uCA wa S1AAS AZ III
who had suffered from scarlet fever
should be permitted to return to- school
till all dccayed teeth We're filled and the
mouth made hygienic. Immediately scar
let fever vas stamped out Of the Chi
gag schools Precisely the SANE firing
happened in the public schools Of Val,
paraiso, Ind. ~,
These instances are only the merest
hint Of what might be written on the
relationship Of defective teeth to the
community health. If then defective teeth
are such a prime factor in physical in
efficiency it a be we'll for us to con-
slider briefly the prevalence of this af-
lection. Few people have any conception
of the relative number of children who
are growing up with bad mouth condi-
tons. In an examination OF. the teeth of
school children in various communities
It has been found that at least 90 per
cent Of them have decayed teeth. In the
public schools of Chicago where nearly
70, 900 children have been examined the
run much higher than this
In conducting ten free dental mfr
in the public school buildings of
Chicago where the teeth of poor chill.
dren are cared for we arc brought face
to a with the appalling enormity of
the, needNof this service. Needless to say
improved physical condition Of these
children has helped them to accompr's h
more In the school ROOM