The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-29
SO EVERY DOCTOR SHOULD BE
 A DENTIST?

-
 A DENTIST?
 Harvard university and the selgs ORaclng conductor of this column are now in Dutch with the majority of dental practitioners and no nais- take. Harvard because she has had the courage, or the foresight, to be among the first schools to take the step which oil schools will have to take presently, tho sc.applng of the old course for students of den. tistry and the setting up Of the mod. 0rn, logical coufse-whlch requires the student to obtain the degree oS Doctor oS Medicine first, and then, and then only, enter upon the spe- clai course of study which will make c qualified medical specialist of him --a dentist who as . doctor in more than the name. The conductor be- cause-aw, because he suggested that dentists who are not physicians re. linquish trade use of the title "Doc- tor" to practlclng physicians. That might not have been SO dreadful but the egregious conductor went SO far aS to suggest that Q better trademark for the practiclng dentist would be "Dentor." Better for the convenience of the public, l mean You know how indicating the indiS- criIninate use of the title of "Doc- tor" is--I could tell you some pretty sad stories about 1t, but suffice to say that 1t is exasperating when sev- eral dentists, an eyeglass merchant chiropodist and an assortment of shoe salesmen, food specialists and agents for hearing aid spring into action when In an emergency Q doc- tor Is called for.
 On a letterhead printed let's say, Dr. Richard Roe Q reader writes:
 Sometimes when I have noths ing else to do and have read everys thing else iIa the paper I take Q shot ct your column just to see if you are still in the same old Tut, and sure enough you are."
 Uh-huh, and 1t isn't SO comfort. able here in the rut, in fact 1t seems bit crowded since Harvard fell in. The correspondent gets off 6 few neat but irrelevant remarks about the Doctor" thing and then de- hvers his wallup:
 ''It is 6 well known fact that the average physician is sadly lacking in knowledge of dental science. If the average physician knew aS much about teeth as the aver- age dentist knows about the rest of the body am sure we would be one happy family and so would the public. There would be better cooperation from both groups. As 1t is we can expect little COG operation from, the physicians be- cause of their lack of knowledge of dentistry. And so I claim that every doctor should have D. D. s. degree before being allowed to practice medicine.
 Yours very truly,
 Richard Roe, D. D. s.
 At that 1t was over a hundred years ago (1839) that the first dental school was opened (Baltimore). Prior to that dentists were either physicians who pulled teeth and gave whatever treatment they could or itinerant charlatans without any training at all. No doubt AeSop in- cluded in his collection a fable of a bird who cut loose from the flock and then complained because the flock did not cooperate.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 S0gtening Hard Toe Nails
 Once I saw In your column some l thing to apply to very hard toe nails to soften them to permit trimming. Mother, e6, has such hard nails that just soaking in hot water and soap makes no impression and they are impossible to trim or cut.
 (Mrs. s. L.) Answer-Apply to the nails only . little liquor posassa (5ss solution of caustic potash in water), by means of a bit of cotton wrapped on end of toothpick. Keep this of from skin. It sofGens the nmll ard permits the excessive thickness to be clipped or filed away.
 Dag Mlas
 Locally lhsy onnSanllno ths dog