Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-05
SOUND Teeth MEANS
GOOD HEALTH
The Crying Evil Of the Day is Wide
Spread Prevalence OF Bad
Teeth.
PAPER READ BY DR. GRADY U.S.N.
Father Of National Mouth Hygiene
Movement" Tells Of Dangers OF
Unsound Teeth.

A Z
even among dentists; in fact. in the
| American Dental Association in 1895. a
resolution relative to the care of the
| teeth of school children, ,iid not even
get a second. Today parents, teachers
| influential citizens and even profess
| sional men are being educated 10 the
| full comprehension of the fact. that of
all diseases of a parasitic nature to
| which mankind is susceptible. dental
carries is. by far the most frequent The
| only proper course to pursue dealing
| with this question is by persistently
| and intelligently educating the minds
| of the public as TO its exact status.and
| whatever we wish to see introduced
into the life of the nation, we must re-
| member, must first be introduced into
| its schools. The school is the one force
| that can unity all conditions OF soci-
ETY.. Here we have the children of the
nation in their entirety and we can, if
we will. teach them that soundness OF
! teeth is inself one of the best evidences
| of general soundness of body
| Prevention of dental carries depends
first of all. on strict cleanliness of the
mouth and teeth, the Importance OF
which cannot be overe stimated The
"details necessary for the proper full
iillment of same must be given in text
books, in public talks and in the pub
lie press Such in part is what | said
in by paper submitted to the American
Medical Association sixteen years ago.
and it is chiefly for this retrospective
interest that il is quoted
Relieving that the agitation begun
in the American Medical Association
should be supplemented in the Nation
al Dental Association, / offered reso-
luton at its meeting at Old Point Com
fort, Va. July TO- 1900. creating a
special committee to consider the ex-
pediency of inaugurating steps look
ing to the cooperation of the public
schools in teaching good teeth, good
health. That committee was styled
Committee on Oral Hygiene in Public
Schools of which l was chairman for
four years.
1t is a singular fact that the one who
offered the resolution. the one who
seconded it and the one who appointed
the committee are all active members
of this Association. To Maryland be
longs the honor of planting the grain
OF mustard seed in 1900. which mas
grown to a large tree spreading its
branches through the length and
breadth of the land. At least two
hundred communities in the United
States are contemplating or have es-
tabished free dental dispensaries.
OF ,063 cities and towns reporting
5G4 have inspection of teeth. and l54
nave special dental clinics, where pu-
pills are treated The work is pail for
by parents, city charity, cooperative
dentists, boards Of education. boards
of health, civic clubs, etc.
A recent law allows any city in the
State of New Jersey to add $4,000 to its
tax for the establishment of a dental
dispensary for the treatment of the
worthy poor. Boston has the Forsyth
Dental Infirmary for Children, with an
endowment of 100000 for it's main
tenance, enabling the trustees to con
duct the work of caring for the teeth
of $50 children daily. The founder
said the inf. mary was promptol as the
result of defective teeth in the mem
be,s of his family before the age of Is
Mr., George Eastman. of Rochester,
~ " and his associates are erecting
a similar institution in that city. The
architect of the Rochester structure.
after visiting the Boston dental in
Urinary, said "the children came much
as they would to an outing or little
party, and left with the same smile as
when they entered the DOORS"
As a result of the agitation for the
Introduction of public dental service
and the need of such service. there are
dental surgeons authorized for the
Army and Navy. it being recognized by
Congress that their services are i'm
peratively required for humanitarian,
hygienic and economic reasons On
board ship, where the men are all I'M
der close surveillance, ami in a more
receptive state of mind. the medical
officer, in his lectures on hygienic
topics. takes up the subject of oral hy-
giene. Dental LESSONS have been re-
sponsible for a great deal of sickness
and even death in the naval service.
Until the organization of the Navy
Dental Corps the curriculum of the
Naval MedicalSchool included a course
of instruction in ctomatology and dent
al emergencies. When enlistment ex-
aminations are made the examining
surgeon especially observes the state
of the mouth and teeth of each recruit.
Much of the stomatitis and gingivitis
occurring in the Navy is, in part. atrib-
utable to the constant use of match
sticks for toothpicks. The results
when inspection and regular treatment
are given school children is illustrated
in MuskegOn, Mich, and Cleveland. o.
school clinic in Muskegon. for ex-
| ample in two months brought about
noticeable change in the school work
leretofore backward children: the
cost. that is money value saved as rep
resented by promotion prevented.
| sar exceeded the expense of the clinic"
I'm Cleveland a general inspection of
| one school was made by ten dentists.
and out of $40 children examined. only
three were found whose oral condi-
tons were perfect. The discovery was
startling TO the principal Forty bows