The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-04

NtN~A4-OA-Eot u q L4LIS 4OI Ills own SalSIacIlOn whether the streptoccocus viridans found in these infections had devel- oped the nature of a. pathogen. In a. number of cases cultures made from infected roots proved fatal within for ty-eight hours after their infection in to mice.
 With these thoughts in mind. if must in the near future. be recoeniz- ed that a toothache is 8 caIan,i+v for most toothache means that decay has aFeady reached the pulp. and a dead pup means danger of apicaI infec- uoh. The best root filling we know of is live pulp. Therefore. the effort must be made to prevent decay from penetrating deep enough in a tooth to involve the pulp.
 when these various pernicious mouth conditions are more fully un- derstood as the one great ractor- for producing disease, medicine will then acknowledge dentistry as it's greatest specially. Also, from a prophyIactfc standpoint, will mouth hygiene he considered the most important branch of general hygiene.
 importance of Health Program in
 Public Schools.
 IL must soon be apparent to edu- c2tors in our public school sys+ey,, throughout the country that a health program of considerable magnitude is essential in these schools for the nra- Vention and correction of remed1ab1e physical defects among the children These defects, if neglected, may even tuaIly be the cause of the chiId,s disability, and in later life can have a detrimental action, morally, mentally aAiu phySlcalIy- No longer can thev specialize on mental develLpment and leave the body of the child entirely in charge of home influence. The findings of our draft boards have conclusively shown US the faIlacv of such procedure. If we study the fol- lowing table submitted by General March, of the U. S. Army, complied from the data collected by the draft boards, we will see that there has been dire neglect in the supervision of the child's body:
 The effectives at ages twenty-one to thirty, for approximately ten mil lion men, in 1917 were:
 Fl years 46To 26 years 2sTo p years 3 27 wears 27 z5 years 59 2S years 26 24 years 35 29 years 23 25 years 32 30 years 22
 The effectives at the ages thirty
 
 Special attention is called to the rapid accumulative effect of physical disability after the adult passes thirty years of age.
 Dr. Osler has stated that the dis eases of which we die in adult life are those which are contra acted or made possible in early youth.
 The figures in General March's ta ble would seem to corroborate state -a E,,- that after thirty years of age resist ance to disease is on the decline, and in the vast majority of people can only be maintained in middle life by healthful habits and freedom from physical defects that permit bacterial invasion into the system
 This demonstration has provided sufficient data to convince us that every community, sooner or later. must adopt some plan, preferably one of prevention, to establish clean mouths and sound teeth for school children.
 We know of no one movement, from the health standpoint, that would be more beneficial to the nation at large than a serious educational campaign to eliminate dental cares, as far as would be possible. There is much in this work that cannot be measured in figures, especially the moral uplift which comes to the individual when he is taught the importance of clean Illness and wholesome respect for his body.
 The prevention of diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis, dental carries, etc, will come. not through any speci- fic form of medication or treatment, but chiefly through education and en- Hghtenment Books. pamphlets. artf- cles in magazines and newspapers, all are of great value in disseminating knowledge; but for actual tangible re- suits in eventually reaching all mem bers of a community, nothing will with thoroughly spreading such knowledge among the children in our public school system
 The results, as shown in this re- port. may be obtained in practically any section of the country if the hy- gienists and supervisors in charge of the work are suf1cinetly educated in their speciality. It must be clearly that although the dental corps has been guided in it's work, what has been accomplished has been mainly through it's own intelligent in- dividual effort and not through any of the teachers by the educa- uonal authorities in charge of the school system. The demonstration was conducted along these lines under theS least favorable circumstances pur- posely to prove the real efficacy of prevention. It is our hope that from now on a definite health program will be introduced into our school system in Bridgeport that will give the teach CTS a greater appreciation of the inn portance of sound bodies for the chil- dren, thus securing g. complete CO., operation and interest on their part in this most important phase of child welfare.