The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-09-22


 upper first moIar I told her to squeeze firmly the joint of her sec l ond finger, which advise she consid- ! cred a very iIl-tirned and pointless joke. Insisting that I was serious and helpfuHy disposed. she obeyed instructions, and in a very few min utes beamed complete relief from her dental anguish.
 Belief in the efficacy of the treat- ment is not essential. and suggestion does not explain the reactions. The thing works with the certainty of a problem in mathematics. For if the pressure is not made in the proper zone, and in the proper way, and for sufficient length of time, the results will inevitably be negative. In fact, anticipating such conten- tions, Dr. Fitzgerald and his COCK perimentors purposely,, in hundreds of instances, refrained from suggest ing that they were even attempting the relief of pain, the first and only 1ntina tion- as to what was to being accomplished coming from the pa tient himself. -i i.~ !.
 In neuralgia and other painful con- dftions of long standing-where there are no decaXed teeth or other dentaI causes for the pain-many perma- nent cures have been effected by pres
 
 seem that whatever tended to reduce the pain would also help. remedy it's cause,N no matter how remote.
 Many. dentists secure a very satis- factory. degree of algesia-sufficie mt for excavating of treatments-by compressing firmly the lip or cheek Immediately over the tooth that is5to be worked upon. But as a rule they prefer pressure over the roots or di- rectly upon the various branches of the dental nerves, for extraction pur- poses. ft .sk
 One of the most significant facts in connection with pressure therapy -or zone therapy, as it is now quite frequently ca11ed-is the intimate relation between morbid dental con ditions and pain or even pathological changes, in practically every section of the body. It has been demon strated, beyond a shadow of doubt that points-or foci-of infection within the mouth, or in the teeth ire quently manifest disturbances in the most remote parts of the body. This is one reason why many phy- sicians and surgeons, using the method, make a, routine practice of sending every patient, in whom den- tai disease is even suspected, for a thorough overhauling by a competent dentist. pr. Fitzgerald does not pro- fess ot explain the relationship, but he contends that in every single case | of goitre ever treated by hirn-and he has seen hundreds-invariabl there were conditions present calling 1 for dental attention.
 | Another reason for striving to keep all our original teeth in the places that nature intended to preserve the lcontinuity-4if it may be so ttermed-- l of our various nerve zones Sound healthy, teeth and roots in their. nor-
 nal occIusion seem to assist in nor mai functfoning of the entire zone chain of which they are an important link.
 1 Congestions. headaches, neural gia, conditions affecting the nerves of the head or the ears, or even partial deafness, have been materially inn | proved and manA times completely cured, by the application of gall vanic cautery around the necks of I the teeth, by pressure on the teeth themselves in the zone affected or even by having the patient ttgrind'' the particular teeth related to those areas which it is attempted favora ble to influence.
 I Tn several instances, chronic from tai headaches in children have been cured by correcting faulty occiuston of the front teeth by that branch of dentistry known as v" Orthod donthia. 7 When after several months treat ment, the teeth were restored to their normal alignment, and continuity of the nerve zone was re-esta b1tshed, the headaches cleared up and there has been no return of them. Reflex relations are even more pronounced where there are abnor- malties in the nose epipherynx, pharynx, throat and other parts of ! the body. and frequently manifest themselves In Iesions or various dis dressing symptoms, always however within the zone occupied by the orig I inal cause of the trouble. | < For instance, hay-fever is a dis | ease with more or less constitutional symptoms. Yet Dr. Fitzgerald, in an experience with many hundreds of cases, contends that he has never i seen a hay feverite with an absolute l ly normal nose, Invariably there were boney spurs or enlarged tur- binates, or deviated < and twisted septuns, or mechanical oeclusions of some kind, 4or. else an irritated in flarned rnucus membrane lining which seems to stand in loco parents to the hay fever.
 * In fact. as neans of diagnosis. these physicians familiar with zone. therapy consider it almost invaluable. If a patient complains of pain, the