Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-04-06


Photographs by Doctor Williams.
11HF; loss or just one tooth III carry
youth or The accidental pushing of
a tooth into a wrong position may
lead to a lifelong Disagreement OF the
Jaws and face
This dcformity has many unhappy conse-
Quenccs. 1t destroys beauty No woman
can be really beautiful unless she has we'll
Droportioned graceful. evenly developed
jaws and teeth.
ncath through inability to chew properly.
irregmlarly developed jaws also hinder a
persons success in life by preventing him
from speaking clearly and from making a
pleasant impression on those with whom
he has TO do business.
Dentists lately have given good deal
OF attention to regulating teeth and the
specialists are called "orthodontists."
Dentistry is not an exact science and
unfortunately bad judgment and bad
work is just as likely In Strengthening
teeth as is so common in the other
branches OF dental work
The time when there is the best hope
OF correcting deformities satisfactorily is
when the permanent teeth have just
come in, for at that age the jawbone Is
very pliable and responds quite remark
ably 10 efforts TO change its form. II must
be obvious. however, that in this very
pliability and response to manipulation
there lies a great danger through unskilled
trea tmcnt.
The part of the jaw in which the teeth
are planted is called "the dental arch
This arch must be symmetrical, both in the
upper and the lower jaw. 1t must have a
certain width and curve Each side should
be an exact duplicate of the opposite side.
The upper jaw must bear fixed grace
ful proportion TO the lower. The upper
must project slightly beyond the lower but
not very markedly. The lower must not
project beyond the upper. but it must moi
recede in marked degree. The upper
and lower teeth must meet and mt into one
another all the way round.
The. commoncSt defects are % abnor.
mallv projecting upper teeth, GU project.
ing lower teeth. usually due to loss of
teeth in the upper jaw, CD one-sided Jaws
and CD fiat face, often due to the spread
ing Of the front part OF the upper dental
arch.
There are many appliances for regulat.
ing the position Of tho teeth and the form
of the dental arch. The arch can be eX-
banded or reduced in size or changed in
any desirable way in childhood, and con.
siderable changes can even be made in
early adult life
But how is the operator to decide what
form the improved dental arch shall have?
What standard Of beauty, what model OF
perfection shall he work from? OF course
there are some changes which must OBJ
viously be made If the upper teeth pro
iect a quarter of an inch beyond the lower
they must be drawn back, Of il one side OIL
an arch is pushed in through the loss OIL
teeth it must be rounded.
But there are questions which are not sc
easily decided. The length Of the arch
from back to front in proportion to its
width varies in different persons Of agree
able and well developed facial appearance
There are many different curves Of eacl
arch. different proportions Of one jaw t(
the other that might be copied by an opera
tor seeking tc bring a defective denta
arch UP to the normal.
Let us suppose that the orthodontist /:
treating girl. A beautiful or at least, at
tractive face is OF supreme Importance tt
her. Shall he seek to remodel her defec
tive jaws upon tho1e OF lillian Russell,