Milford chronicle., 1920-01-02
TEETH AND HEALTH
By r. ALLEN GRIFFITH, D. D. S.
TEETH CARE IN SCHooLs

TEETH CARE IN SCHOOLS
When the Eastland turned turtle in
I the Chicago river the entire city made
angry protest over the loss Of life.
/ City. state and Federal government
had their committees investigating the
disaster. "One thousand children die
daily in this country and their deaths
are due more to bad teeth than to any
other trouble says DR.. Harvey w.
Wiley
If these thousand lives were lost
each day in some dramatic manner.
no doubt public interest would be
aroused to such a pitch of excitement
chat steps would be taken to stop this
stupid and prodigal waste of human
life
The fact that the thousand die as
the result of neglected and infected
teeth has not sufficient dramatic in
terest to arouse the public. Beyond
the interest the individual is cOmpell
ed to take in a toothacahe, few per-
sons ever give a thought to their
teeth The fact that most systemic
disease is due to unclean mouths is
not sufficiently spectacular to arouse
the public to a demand for oral hy
giene.
True. many children live in spite OF
foul mouth conditions, if their bodily
resistance is above a certain standard,
but there are others who carry the
scars OF conflict thru life. The scars,
or LESSONS, developed during child
hood are often the foundation for or
ganic diseases developed later in life.
Oral hygiene to be most effective
must begin early in life.
The selectiye draft showed us that
80 per cent of our young men were
defective. They were school children
of yesterday Authorities show us
that rs per cent Of the 20,000.000
school children of today have physical
defects; most of them are preventable
or remediable. We have compulsory
education, which is simply compulsory
feeding and training of the mind. Why
should we not have compulsory health
feeding and training of the body?
Why not compulsory physical drill,
sanitation and oral hygiene? The
rural communities are worse off than
the cities. Vermont is the first state Z
in the union to care for the teeth of
children in rural schools. According
to one investigator, IA per cent Of
school children had never used a
tooth brush. Fifty-eight per cent used /
one occasionally, and only q per cent /
used one daily.
Listen to this testimony, only /
slightly different angle, taken from the .
London Daily Mail:
"One thing about the American sol
nd OF J,
people when they see these gallant
lighters, and that is the soundness and
general whiteness Of their teeth. It
IS all the more striking in that it is
such a contrast to the teeth of the
British people.
From childhood the Yank is taught
o take care of his teeth. He has tooth
lrill thrice daily and visits his den
list at fixed intervals-say. every
hree CT four months. If, by chance,
/ tooth does decay. the rot is at once I
.rrested by filling"
The writer of the above evidently
lid not know that one-third of our I
'oys in the first draft were eliminated
BECAUSE our physicians appreciated
What sound teeth mean to a soldier. !
The doctors only passed those whose
eeth were sound.
In how many of our schools would
his writer find the thrice-daily tooth !
rush drill? And how about the reg .
lar visits?
An old patient said to the writer !
ecently: :
Doctor, I have neglected my teeth /.
t must be nearly two years since I .
vas in last to have my teeth ex-
The records showed that it had been /.
even years.
In some of our cities, notably Cleve- :
and and Rochester and New York, we :
nd the important matter of teeth well ,
ared for in the schools. but in other !
tiles very little attention is paid to 5
lem.
Let us hope that the idea the Eng I
sh writer had of the care we give our )
seth may eventually become a reality. 2