Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-25
THEY BUILD OR DESTROY

elements upon which the bones and
teeth depend for their existence. Those
VINO refuse to accept this statement
must deal with the results of the ex-
periments of DR.. Gels of Columbia
University in his analysis of the
mineral content of defective teeth.
In the Dundee schools so per cent.
OF the children were found to be suf-
tering from defective vision. In
Alameda, Cal, the superintendent of
schools says that out of $500 pupils
more than 800 are afflicted with
PhyslcaI defects observable even to
the layman.
Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston. in the
month of December, 1911, announced
the results of the first three months
work conducted by DR.. William ].
Gallivan, chief of the division of child
hygiene of the Boston Board of
Health.
The school physicians under DR.
Gallivan examined 42,75O children
and only 1887, little more than
one-third, were found to be in a con-
dition that could be called healthy;
2I796 of the children examined were
described as defective"
In TINS historic center of the learn
ing and culture of the United States
an investigation covering three
months discovered among the children
OF the schools 1888 cases of defec-
tive teeth, 9,73S cases of diseased ton
sils, 3,509 cases of skin diseases, 575
cases of rickets, and 1,611 cases of
malnutrition.
The Bureau of Medical Research
reports that "in rural as well as in
city schools nearly one in three have
trouble with the eyes; nearly one in
fYe are mouth-breathers, because of
abnormal growths in their air pas
sages, besides many who are obviously
predlsposed to tuberculosis and nerv-
Gus trouble"
At the annual meeting, June. 1913.
OF the Second District Dental Society
OF New York, DR.. A. Freedman Foot
reported on the work done by the
new Municipal Dental Clinic of New
YORK city, which has been operating
since the first of January, 1913.
Up to that time 1854 children in
New York City had been registered
in the six clinics, two of which are
in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn, and
one in the Bronx.
Of these 1854 school children only
eleven were found to possess normal
teeth.
Dr. Foot's report, which was alarm
ing in the extreme, stated: The six
year molars of nearly every child were
broken down wholly or in part, and
in a great many instances the moTars
were decayed through the gums.
| Where it was not already too late
these molars were drilled and filed
with guttapercha.
AT the lowest estimation more than
60 per cent. of all the children exam
ined possessed defective teeth In
many instances the defects were so
extensive and far advanced that cor
rective treatment, even IL it could
have been applied, would have been
of little value"
Well indeed may this report ask
the question, What will be the future
health chances of such children?" Are
they to be useful to society or a drag
upon the race? How does it look to
you?
The American teeth OF to-day are
among the poorest on earth, in spite
erican people is said to contain a
greater variety of foods than that
found in any other nation of the
world. Alas such flattery does not
compensate for the annual deaths of
nearly 100000 children under ten
years of age in the United States
alone.
DR. T. Van Wrinkle. OF the Depart
ment of Health, examining the teeth
of 231,0S1 New York City children
outside the dental clinics, found 131 :
TAI defective. A special examination
of the teeth of 500 schooi children be-
tween the ages of fourteen and six
teen selected at random revealed 4S6
defective cases.
In this respect the discoveries of
| DIR. Gels concerning the mineral defi-
ciencies of starved teeth will receive
attention in their proper place. We
are now moving rapidly, but we must
not go too fast.