Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1915-11-01
Ashland, Ore, Monday, Nov. 4, 1915
TOOTH CARPENTRY.

Our friends of the tooth-the doc
tors of dental surgery, we mean
are just now giving us much delect-
able aliment regarding the high pur-
pose, high achievement and high
jinks of tooth carpentry, and we are
grateful. The layman has much to
learn Of the dentist by the way Of
simple precepts, homely formulas and
prudent ways for the inexpensive
preservation of his teeth And these
his teeth-are among his most in
dispensable assets.
Without his teeth man can't
whistle as he should, neither can he
preserve the witching curves of his
human form divine, except reversed.
Without his teeth he would starve at
a banquet or be unable to gnash when
only gnashing would meet the re-
quirement OF the situation. Even
limitations, if we have the price, must
be resorted to, when nature fails.
Yes, give us teeth or give us death.
They should be permanent as the liv-
ing rock-imperishable That they
should be transient as the bloom OF
youth we can not understand, except
it be to keep the dentists out OF other
mischief.
Yet these have done their best
and 1t isn't bad. Moreover, they are
improving every day. They now hurt
only little several times instead of
prostrating us at one fell swoop, and
promise to do better yet. The pres
ent method is on the principle adopt
ed by the Indian who cut off his dogs
tail an inch at time, so that II
wouldn't hurt so much" and let il
go at that.
Among late advances by the dental
sharps which lure our attention is To-
cal anesthetization of a part about to
be tortured. This does away with the
necessity of total oblivion, and its
after effects are less embarrassing
One is less liable to tell it all under
this practice, and it is no more fatal
a. ona', f;napo;a1 cvofan, fhon tha
complete collapse thereof under the
other barbarism.
And besides, this localization pro-
cedure is now being improved upon,
as more knowledge OF facial nerves,
their uses and abuses, is acquired,
II is now proposed to trace a nerve
from its outpost in given tooth back
TO the switchboard in the brain, II
one has such a thing, and at or near
that juncture, or somewhere along
the line, inject the quieting agency
therein, or near thereto, thus secur-
ing complete somnolence of the nerve,
or whatever 1t is that jumps, and,
presto, one may even smile in the tor
ture chair. It's a great system and,
so long as we must have transitory
teeth, we're for it.
It seems to us that If there could
be added one more achievement by
the dentists, one which we have in
mind, their PROFESSIONAL status would
be supreme for all time, no matter
what their politics. There is one
other highly sensitive nerve which
they have heretofore shocked unmer-
cifully and which, once touched, nev-
er fully RECEIVERS. We refer, of course,
to the nerve which the dentists nerve
arouses when he names the bill. 1t
is commonly called the pocketbook
nerve. 1t reaches the eyes and makes
them shed tears profusely at times.
II this could be spared, even so mod
erately as that one might buy one
meal before again taking up the bur-
dens of self-support it would put the
hum in humanity, open many an ivory
cavern OF forgotten Joy, and make
many fang rejoice.