The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-03
REPORT OF FIVE YEARS 0F MOUTH HYGIENE IN PUBLIC
 SCHOOLS OF BRIDGEPORT

cleanliness. I have known them in a few weeks to choose a new set of companions because the old friends no longer looked attractive Id them. No one ever saw 0 fowdy with clean mouth, for cleanliness breeds refine ment: The proper food supply to the body and cleanliness are the two main foundation pillars fer health, and these must be taught and pFae- ticed before we can hope to obtain satisfying results In the betterment of child life. There is much in life worth while besides teeth, but 1 know Of no one factor that Is more condu- sive to health than sound tech and a clean mouth. 'Fhe question may be asked: How are We to educate these women to be dental aygtcnists? In every large city there are men in both the medi- cal and dental professions who are competent to establish a lecture course for this purpose. The neces- sary training in the prephylactic treatment of the teeth would of course, be given by dentists. Both of these professions are anxious to aid in any cause so worthy, and I be- lieve they would willingly give their time and knowledge to start such a movement. It is Impossible in this paper to give the details concerning the education of these women and their full duties In the schools, but enough has been stated to permit those in charge of our public school system to consider the proposition In a general way and determine if this plan Is solution of the main prob lem regarding school hygiene"
 Inception of the Bridgeport
 Experiment.
 For four year previous to 1913 strenuous efforts had been made to interest the city officials of Bridge port to provide funds for an educa- tional and preventive dental clinic in the public schools, At last five thousand dollars was apportioned to the Board of Health In order that demonstration might be made to | prove the value of a mouth hygiene l campaign conducted on an educa- | tfonal and preventive plan.
 With the possibility of this move ment befng 9 powerful aid in the pre- vention of dental decay, infectious i and communicable d4seases, eighteen i prominent educators in the East | agreed to come to Bridgeport and i give their services gratis to educate a corps of women to be known as dental hygfenfsts The course was started in the late fall of 1913, and in June, 1914 the first class of dental i fygfenists was graduated
 The Board of Health appointed a committee of four dentists and one member of the Health Board. a phy- sician> to establish the syster, In the schools Eight dental hygien4sts and tive supervisors were chosen, and in September, 1914, the work was be- gun for the first and second grade chilt1T{er
 First Hygfenists at Work in Public
 Schools
 There were four distinct parts to the system First, the prophylactic trea tnent or the actual cleaning and polishing of the children's teeth and chart examination Of the mouths, Second, tooth brush drills and class room talks Third, stereoptfcon lec- t17yes for children in the nfgner grades and fourth. educational work in the homes by means of special lit erat0se fo" parents The prophylac- tic t~eatn2 ent consisted mainly in the thorough cleaning. by means of orange wood sticks in hand polishers, Of every surface of every tooth. This r2AEn that the dental hygfenist would remove all stains and accre- tiOns from the surfaces of the teeth and especially the mucila genous S.. which are the initial step of dental decay The treatments were given in the schools, the equipment being portable and adapted to almost any location Every child received the same treatment, regardless of the if nancia1 status of the parent; in short, this preventive system was incorpor- ated as part of the school curriculum. Some parents objected, thinking the Il work was a charity, but with a bet ter understanding of it the objections II were soon withdrawn. II
 The tooth brush drills were given T. by the supervisors. and a method of II mouth brushing was taught for. use II in the home, No attempt was made to use water and a, dentifrice in the class room, as this would prove to be too nussy. Class room talks con- corning foods, cleanliness, etc, were part of the drill. The total number of children examined and treated in the first and second grades the first year was 6.76S. On the first exam nation less than ten per cent. were brushing their teeth daily, About thirty per cent. claimed that they brushed their teeth . occasionally, while sixty per cent. were frank enough to state that they did not use ] 8 tooth brush Ten per cent. of the children were found to have fistulas on the gums, showing the outlets of 3 abscesses from the roots of decayed teeth, and they averaged over seven cavities per child. It was shocking to find the mouths of these children ranging from five to seven years in this depIorable condition, and it was
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