The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1920-12-17

| IL lHiS we're only cleared away,
They said, 1T would be grand.
IF seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half year,
| Do you suppose the Walrus said,
That they could get it clear?
| I doubt it, said the Carpenter,
And she'd a bitter tear
1t was this fragment of Carrolls
! poem that DR.. Black quoted to Mrs
| Walter, the Chairman of the County
| Health Committee, when she said that
| because of the rotten teeth of the
children of today, the men and wo-
men of tomorrow would be a set Of
invalids, dyspeptics, and rheumatics
and proposed that the dentists should
so work with the school authorities
that every child in every school Of the
county should have his teeth put in
perfect order and kept so.
The Doctor continued thus:
in one county of Pennsylvania
there are about 456 school houses and
$1,000 children; those $1,000 children
have at least 100000 rotting teeth.
There are in this county fifteen COM
petent dentists. Allowing one hour
for each child, it would take those
fifteen dentists, working eight hours a
day, two hundred and twenty-five days
to give a first treatment to each of
these children"
But that is q gross exaggeration,
their teeth cannot be in that dreadful
condition"
"It is no exaggeration, but under
states the facts"
"a survey of 159 children in two
cities, showed S25 cavities; an aver
age of $50 cavities a mouth; this
fairly represents the State at large"
"Then there is no hope of doing
anything except for the people who
can afford to pay for dentist?"
"On the contrary replied the Doc
tor, there is not only hope, but
determination to do much"
"But how can that be?"
"By preventing the rotting of teeth"
But it is natural for teeth to de-
cay; l have seen it in little babies"
Teeth decay only and solely be-
cause the mouth is filthy. In this
mouth filth grow the germs which eat
away the enamel"
"Do you mean that there wouldn't
be any toothaches, any assesses, any
filings to be done, if the teeth were
kept clean?'
ayes"
"Do bad teeth carse disease?'
Eyes, children with rotten teeth
catch diseases, are sickly, have sore
throats, sore gums, bad stomachs. Bad
teeth are the starting points of rheu-
matism, heart disease, and many Grip
ping forms of sickness"
"How can you get rid of what you
call mouth filth?'
"By washing and brushing the teeth
every time food is taken into the
mouth, using plenty of water and re-
moving all of those fragments of food
which remain between the teeth and
on the irregular grinding surfaces.
These fragments of food in the warm,
moist atmosphere of the mouth quick
ly decay. and start that eating away
of the enamel which exposes the teeth
to rotting. This is especially true Of
all forms of sugar"
Coming back to the school children,
Doctor, what can we do for them?"
There are not enough dentists to
go around, therefore some other means
must be sought We can use women
trained to clean the teeth thoroughly
and properly, and to map out cOndi-
tons which require the care of den
tist One such woman can thorough
ly clean. twice Il year. the teeth of
eight hundred children; her salary
should be 500 per month. Where
there are number of small schools
within fairly easy reach Of each other,
she can divide her time among them.
The children must he taught how to
keep their teeth clean and must be in
spected daily to see that they are do
ing so. Those who require further
attention should be referred to the
dentist, and children too poor to pay
should be sent to the school dentist,
who should be given a fair salary for
this type of trying and exhausting
work.
"Where this has been done not only
health but scholarship has shown an
astonishing improvement.
at is better for Pennsylvania that
her coming citizens should have sound
teeth, than that they should knsw how
to extract cube root: also, 1t costs less,
and is proper charge against the
school fund"