Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-07-11
Spare Tooth Brush:
Sp0il the Joints
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON, M. D.

in the world, but dentistry one OF the
newest sciences. We have shown our
teeth to our enemies and CRASHED
them In rage and grtted them in az
ony and smiled to display their pearly
CLEAN tor thousands Sf years, but we
have only just begun to clean them,
he only tooth powder that we used
up to half century ago was the pro
verbal peck of dirt"
But when after centuries OF neg
iect we first look ourselves squarely
IN the mouth and find that some OF
our grinders have gone bad OF us, we
throw up hands In horror and declare
mat our teeth are breaking down and
gong to destruction under the strains
OF civilization, and that the human
race, Will soon be toothless as well as
hairless. " ~
But, as matter OF fact wa hav.
only our own ignorance and neglect
to blame for their present condition,
and If they hadn't been as tough as
the proverbial sole leather-toueher.
i'll fact, for they have had to cat II
many and many time--they would
have decayed and disappeared long
ago under the abominable treatment
that we have given them,
Whether they were seunder or ship.
wreckier than they are now two hum
dred or two thousand years ago we
have no means of knowing, because
nobody ever looked to see. But ono
thing we do know, that they respond
promptly and In the most gratifying
manner to kind treatment especially
If caught young, that all their defects
are preventable and that at the pres
ent rate the next fifty years will show
the tnest average sets OF teeth in
human jaws that the sun ever shonc
on.
Thoughtful and ebservant dentists
are already declaring that bridges,
plates and false teeth are being re-
sorted to later In life than they were
thirty years ago; that there 10 no
reason why an intelligent octogcnar-
ian should not possess a full set Of
his own teeth in good condition, and
that false teeth OF all sorts will be-
come rarer instead OF commoner.
Stand by your teeth and your teeth
will stand by you" Is the motto of
modern dentistry,
An interesting illustration Of the ex-
treme recentness OF our attempts to
take care of the teeth OF the COM
munity has just been furnished by
the celebration OF the first annivcr-
sary of the splendid Forsythe Dental
Institute of Boston. In its first
twelve, months OF existence 1t has
treated almost twenty thousand child
rem and given Boston the proud dis
tinction of being the only city in the
United States which Is prepared to
protect the teeth OF all Its children.
Child's Cry Started Hospital.
This intelligent and priceless public
benefaction Is the gift OF the four
bachelor brothers whose name it
bears, Wild had amassed . fortune,
quite moderate one as modern for
tunes 60, in the manufacture Of belt
Ing for machinery. The story of its
growth Is as quaint and picturesque
as 1t Is charming, starting from such
trivial foundation az child's cry
In the night. The older of the broth
ers was awakened one night by a
child crying with toothache. On in
quiring in the morning what was the
cause of the crying, he asked why
the parents hadn't taken the child to
hospital for proper treatment, and
was told that there was no hospital
for the care Of poor children's teeth.
The pity of this lack impressed him
so strongly that within a few weeks
he drew up clause to be added to
his will bequeathing $4,000 for the
establishment of such hospital. But
before he could carry out his intention
he was suddenly takan i'll and died,
and the codicil was found among his
papers after his death unsigned. So
far from standing on their legal
rights his brothers, who were his sole
heirs, after looking into the matter
carefully, decided that half q million
dollars was hardly sufficient for an
enterprise of such great public value
and added another million dollars to
the endowment, including the name
OF another brother who had previous
ly died and making the institute
memorial to them both.
With this foundation the enterprise
was launched. But the brothers were
not satisfied yet, and when two years
later third brother died the survivor
added another two million dollars to
the endowment and another name to
the memorial plate. Its foundation
and splendid accomplishment OF use
fulness during Its first year 10 per-
sonal tribute to the surviving brother,
who has been everything from arehi-
tect to general superintendent during
its planning and building and business
manager during Its operation.