Milford chronicle., 1930-08-15
MOLARS AND BICUSPIDS
WERE SOUTH POLE TOPICS
Byrd Associates, Dentally
Perfect Exch an g e d
Stories Of Teeth On Ice
Barrier.
l2I TEETH FILLED
BY LAURA LEE

lou WOulu u6N6I SuCoo OlC VI bhO
main topics of conversation of the
boys on the Byrd Expedition, recent
ly returned from the South Pole.
Dentistry, no less!
AS they gathered together on the
ice barrier, after the days work was
done, they exchanged stories not of
operations, but of teeth. At least so
they told DR.. Clyde A. Nelson, who
Joined them at Panama and came
back with them on the bark City of
New York, to complete the work be-
gun when the explorers departed al
most two years ago.
That adventurous explorer, Rear
Admiral Richard E. Byrd is even a
greater pioneer than his many ad-
mirers suspect. He has Dlazed a new
trail into the mysterious fields OF
science and has set precedent for
future expeditions. Never before has
an expedition been so physically
well prepared to meet the hazards
and dangers of unknown regions.
Admiral Byrd insisted not only on
a complete medical and physical ex-
animation of his men, which investi-
cation was carried on under the d1-
rection of DR.. Francis D. Conan, Of
Johns Hopkins University, Balti-
more, but he also wanted complete
survey of every mouth, with accom-
panying constructive work.
So he talked things over with DR..
G. Layton Grier, president of the
Caulk Dental Research Laborator-
les at Milford, Del, and appointed
him Chief Dental Consultant of the
expedition.
DR.. Grier opened up dental clin-
ic in the Fifth Avenue Building, New
York City, for the use of the eXpe-
dition. For three months, with DR..
Nelson, of the Caulk laboratories in
charge of the work, each of the 70
men including Admiral Byrd, sub
mitted to a thorough study of the
most intimate recesses of his mouth.
Under strict orders from Admiral
Byrd, no man was allowed to depart
until both the medical and dental ex-
perts had put on him their stamp OF
approval and until they felt he was
prepared to stand the rigOrs and re-
stricted diet of the life before them.
That there was no illness, no flu,
colds, toothaches or complications
from abscessed teeth is proof that
the experiment. was thorough and
successful.
When DR.. Nelson joined the expe-
dition at Panama on its return from
the Antarctic, with his heavy X-ray
machine and all the equipment OF
modern dentists's office, a place was
made down in the saloon" for the
examination and work.
Never was a dentist more popular
or less feared. The gentlemen of the
expedition made rush for the chair.
"They all wanted their teeth clean
ed and polished" said DR.. Nelson,
"to impress their wives and sweet
hearts. Besides, it was a diversion
and helped while away the long
hours on shipboard."
With Harold 1. June, air pilot as
assistant" and an able one, too, ac-
cording to DR.. Nelson, the work OF
what one explorer, described as dis
covering new bicuspid ranges" began.
Complete photographs, entailing
twenty X-rays on each man, of every
mouth on both the City of New
York and the Eleanor Boiling were
made and conditions charted and
plotted and histories written, as they
had been in New York before the ex-
pedition departed. Probably never
before have the secrets of a group OF
sixty mouths been more thoroughly
probed.
81 was really agreeably surpris-
ed" said DR.. Nelson, "at the condi-
tion of Admiral Byrd's mouth and of
his men. There were few cavities
and soft tissue was in good shape"
Which proves that you can live
for a couple of years on whale and
seal meat and find that your teeth
are none the worse for little hard
labor of chewing. The restricted diet
may not always have been pleasant
to take, but it did no harm.
Unromantic though the subject OF
teeth may be, not only Commander
Byrd himself, but also his men De-
came very much interested in mod
ern dentistry. So seriously did they
take the subject that when they
reached New Zealand and one of the
explorers found that his gums were
bleeding, he sent radio message to ,
DR.. Nelson asking what to do about
it. And surprisingly enough, they
found that the young man was so in
earnest he was brushing his teeth
with too much vigOr. (
Before leaving New York, DR.. Mel
son gave the Byrd men little lee
lures and demonstrations on mouth
and care of the teeth.
DR.. Paul Poetschke had prepared for
them special tooth pastes that would =
not freeze and concentrated mouth
lotions that would Withstand freez- !
ing temperatures.
The adventurers, before they left
America had submitted to 421 fill
ngs and 66 teeth extractions. But
his meant good health for them, so
hey didn't object.
AS he stepped off the gang plank
n New York CITY. each man had a