Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-01-17

riously like a new star upon the medi-
cal horizon. Sometimes it is constructive
| theory, such as that which claims that if we
| only consume enough vitamines health is
ours, but more often than not it is a de-
structive theory which attacks some obscure
and apparently unimportant portion of the
human anatomy as being responsible for all
! the physical ills Of the race.
Thus, hundred years ago, an excess sup
| ply Of blood was supposed to be the cause of
all complaints, and the way to cure anything
| and everything was by the bleeding proc
| ess. In more recent times, therapeutical
| fashions have changed with greater rapidity
and the role Of anatomical arch william has
shifted from the appendix to the tonsils and
! from the tonsils to the teeth. Now it looks
as If 1t might be enthusiastically passed on
| to the duCtless glands, but for the present it
| is still securely in the possession of the
teeth.
1t would be interesting to know how many
million teeth have been sacrificed during the
! past few years and why, but unfortunately
no complete statistics are available. Person
ally, nearly everyone of our acquaintance has
contributed at least one strong, full-groWn
| tooth to the cause of health but we have
| yet to hear of any swift and miraculous cures.
Three years ago, when the theory of focal in
| lection was still comparatively new, we re-
member that we were greatly impressed by
the enthusiasm of woman dentist who had
| just discovered that her sister had three or
maybe four infected teeth. The girl had had
long series Of tubercular glands, and here,
of course, was the cause! The guilty teeth
were quickly pulled, the family breathed a
| sigh of relief, and the girl gradually improv-
| ed in weight and strength. Here" thought
everybody, "is living proof of the new
! theory" But, not long ago, we learned that
| the young woman was again in hospital suf-
| fering with another tubercular gland.
Teeth and Nerves
In another case, a suburban resident az
| flicted with an over-abundance of leisure and
| a nervous malady had his teeth X-rayed hop
| ing to find that an infected tooth was the
| cause of his disability. The revelations of
the X-ray were most satisfactory. They not
only showed that he had an infected TOOTH
| but that it was a tooth with hayward tenden-
c1es that had grown upward instead Of down
ward in It's extreme youth and was lodged
behind his nose. He remembered, he told
| the dentist, that the tooth had never appear
ed when it was expected and that after a few
| years of patient waiting he had acquired a
| pivot tooth as a substitute. He Immediately
| underwent an operation and the offending
| organ was removed, after which, he was as
sured, his extreme nervousness would dis
| appear. But it didn't, and now he is sus-
picious Of al medical theories. When it was
suggested that he try psychoanalysis, he re-
piled bitterly that he was Through expert
menting with bunk
| The majority of 1aymen, including probably
| able to see the danger of focal infection, of
| course, and are only too anxious to have it
removed. But they are losing their faith in
! tooth-pulling as a panacea for all Affections,
| from epilepsy to tonsilitis.
Among the various ailments attributed to
| infection in the canals or around the roots of
the teeth, which the X-ray alone can reveal,
are Tuberculosis, diseases of the kidneys,
rheumatism, partial blindness, partial deaf
ness, neritis, epilepsy, sciatica, persistent
headache, general lassitude, insanity, some
forms Of heart disease such as endocarditis,
which is inflammation of the membrane lin
ing the heart, and blood clots, which may
plug the interior of blood vessels causing
paralysis and DEATH"
A Cause of Insanity?
The connection between defective teeth
and heart disease has been definitely proved
to the satisfaction of the Society for the Pre-
vention Of Heart Disease; while New Jersey
alienist of note has succeeded in convincing
the profession that certain types of insanity
are undoubtedly caused by bacterial infec-
ton in the intestines introduced through de-
fective teeth. Moreover, it is claimed that
victims of insanity in considerable numbers
have been cured by proper attention to de-
cayed OBJ the removal of misplaced teeth"
+ IF this seems preposterous to the lay
man." says one medical authority, 'let him
bear in mind that the hollow in a tooth can
easily harbor two billion (2,0J0,0O0, 600
the figures are more impressive) germs and
that there may be 60 varieties of those in a
single decayed spot. All of them are await
ing favorable opportunity to get into the
blood circulation, by means of which the par
ticular kind of infection which they represent
is carried to the tissues most suitable for the
propagation of the germ and the exploitation
of the malady."
Colonel Roosevelt heads the list of i'm