The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-05-23

! in the most modern manner through
out and both the building and it's fur
| nishing cost has been borne entirely
by the Sisters of st. Joseph.
The sisters and the nurses are justly
proud of the new building and desire
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perfect teeth. He was bright and
quick and in good health. I know,
gentlemen, that a single instance like
this proves nothing, but upon careful
examination of my records 1 found,
invariably, the child with the healthy
oral cavity was the bright child and
we'll up in school work and the one
with the diseased teeth and conse-
quent filthy mouth was the slow stu
dent and back in grades. OF course
there were exceptions to this, but the
rule as stated obtained in most cases.
In Marion school, Cleveland, O.,
twenty seven pupils were selected.
Their grades were a matter of careful
record and tests in different subjects
made. Then their teeth and oral
cavities were put in a healthy condi-
ton, sufficiently attended to so their
meals could be properly masticated.
They were carefully instructed in how
to masticate and how to care for their
teeth. After one year a test was again
made. The average improvement was
1913 per cent. The smallest improve
ment in any one pupil was 80 per cent
While the greatest improvement was
444.S per cent"
AS nearly as can conservatively
estimate from the statistics of the va
rious parts of the country each school
child has, on an average, a little more
than four diseased teeth that need fill
| ing. That means about loo, 100000 dis
eased spots in the school children Of
the United States. About 10 per cent
| of the children have an abcessed tooth
| or teeth. That means about 28S of
your Fargo children have pus mixing
with their meals. Rather a sad thing
| to contemplate. About 10 per cent of
your children have permanent teeth
missing. About 20 per cent of your
children have permanent tooth so
badly decayed that a crowning opera
, ton is about all that will save 1t.
These are In excess of the cavities re-
| ported above. I base these estimates
upon the report of the dental inspec-
| tion of the Grafton school children,
which was the first school in the state
to have dental inspection. In this con-
nection / wish to thank DR.. Cryder-
man OF Grafton, who is chairman Of
| the committee on oral hygiene and
dental education Of our State Dental
| association. for the report of the Graf
ton schools and for other data. I also
base these estimates on the results
| or the inspection which I conducted
| personally, OF the Langdon schools
The results Of these two reports were
very similar. I examined 81 pupils in
the Langdon school and found 1918
cavities which needed filings, 263 GA
per cent? out of the 357. needed their
teeth cleaned badly; As (12 per cent?
| natural crowns had been lost by
| carries. 81 permanent teeth had been
extracted, 26 others needed extraction.
| (17 per cent lost), 104 (2S per cent?
children had teeth SO irregular that
regulation appliances would be neces-
sary to restore conditions to normal
| Only IL abscesses were found. This
was a very low average, for as a. rule
about 10 per cent exist. Now you un-
derstand, gentlemen, am not speak
ing from guess nor am I taking an
others word for this, for "n1ine eyes
have. seen," know the conditions.
Langdon was the second school in the
state, to have dental inspection. It
| took me three years to bring 1t about
and then had to seek the assistance
of the Woman's club to bring pressure
to bear on the school board. When I
submitted my report to the school
board l was asked to eliminate that
|
be done in the shape of dental clinics.
The board was afraid people would
think they were getting too extensive
with new ideas. We have had excess
sive school taxes in Langdon the past
| few years and l excused the board for
that reason. In Fargo you are much
better situated for you have q suffi-
cient number Of pupils to keep q clinic
open all the time. However, this is q
matter for after consideration. I may
state that in the Langdon inspection
furnished my time, the time Of my
assistant and office girl for six and
one-half days gratis, as well as the
blanks necessary to make three sets of
records. / was very glad to do this,
but believe the work ought to be
paid for unless 1t is done merely as
an experiment or to introduce the sys-
tenn. / believe the more satisfactory
way is to have a regular salaried in
spector. The inspection ought to be
followed by lectures on Oral Hygiene.
| The dentists of the city could look
after that. In our city I am giving a
$40 gold piece (next year two prizes)
for the. best essay on Oral Hygiene
1 from the members of the senior high
school. The superintendent likes 1t be-
cause 1t is a stimulus to better Eng
| lish. like 1t for believe 1t Is a very
| effective way to educate, at least q few
pupils, along Oraf Hygiene thought.
The pupils like It because they are
after the $40.
Il trust the State Dental association
will give an annual medal or prize
for the best essay on Oral Hygiene,
one essay from each high school to be
accepted. This year the association is
distributing $4,000 leaflets on Oral Hy-
giene to the school children OF the
state
| drerl in the public schools in this state
| is about $50 per CAPITA per annum In
your city 1t was $3.50 last year, which
did not include interest on your ir1-
vestment nor depreciation OF property.
! Last year YOU spent, OF this $50, 143