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Diseases of the Teeth.It would be out of place to discuss in this work the particular influences which seem to hasten the decay and irregularities in development of the teeth which are so familiar in this country. It may be said in general, that the artificial habits consequent upon civilization are responsible for the deterioration of the teeth. It seems reasonable to suppose, that in the natural condition of mankind the teeth would be as well preserved as they are in wild animals ; in fact, observation of some of the lower races shows that this supposition is well founded. The consumption of artificially prepared food, which is the universal custom among civilized peoples, seems to favor the decay of the teeth by introducing several substances, especially acids, which destroy the enamel of the teeth. Furthermore, the retention of particles of matter between the teeth results in the decom position of such matter and the formation of acid substances. Mechanical violence also favors the decay of the teeth. For so long as the enamel is perfect the teeth are safe from decay, while the removal of a portion of this shell exposes the softer and more destructible parts of the tooth to the action of corrosive substances which may be contained in the mouth. If the teeth could be kept perfectly clean there would probably be no decay ; though it must be admitted there is a great difference in the natural preservative power of the teeth. Some individuals, even though employing all possible means for keeping the teeth clean, are unable to prevent decay. The care of the teeth should be begun with their appearance in the mouth. It is a mistake to suppose that the first set of teeth require no attention since they will subsequently be removed. The fact is that the foundation for many irregularities and difficulties with the permanent teeth arises in a neglect to properly care for the milk teeth. The child should be taught habits of cleanliness with regard to the teeth as well as elsewhere ; a small soft brush should be used for the first set. It is further advisable that the child's teeth should be inspected occasionally by a dentist; this is especially necessary if there be any irregularities manifested in the growth of the teeth. For if carefully attended to the teeth can be straightened and arranged so as to be almost perfect no matter how irregular they may seem to be at the beginning. Irregularities of the teeth have been the subject of much study and attention on the part of educated dentists. A valuable paper called M An inquiry into the causes of irregularities in the development of the teeth " has been recently published by Dr. Kingsley, of New York, from which the following extracts are taken : " The peculiarities of the permanent teeth it is unnecessary to describe in detail. In the departure from symmetry they assume almost every variety of position, so that it would be almost impos sible for the human mind to conceive of an irregular arrangement which would not find its counterpart in nature. " These variations are recognizable by every one of extended observation, and are deformities, because they are a greater or less departure from a normal standard. Such a standard cannot in the very nature of things be one shape to which all must conform or be classed as deformed. "Symmetry and harmony do not imply uniformity; and the dental art may developed up to the highest type of perfection, and yet there exist as great a variety of forms as there would be in the faces of the aggregated beauties of the world. " In 1864 Messrs. Cartright and Coleman, of London, made an examination of some 200 ancient skulls in the crypt of Hythe Church, Kent. These skulls, of which there is no authentic history further than that they have been there for centuries, were appar ently of both sexes and all ages. " The jaws presented in all instances unusually well developed dental arches. The teeth were remarkable for regularity of position, only two deviations being noticed ; one upper canine shut within the lower jaw, and one bicuspid was turned upon its axis and there . might have been other slight irregularities which were unnoticed, but in no single instance was there anything seen approaching to that which under the term i contracted arch' so commonly exists in the present day. " The average width of the dental arch in these skulls, from the outside of the first molar to the corresponding point, was two and a half inches. " In 1869 Mr. John R. Mummery, of London, contributed to the Odontological Society of Great Britain the most valuable paper on this subject which I have ever read. I accord more importance to his personal examinations than I do to the observations of any man not a practical dentist. The statements of all others, even those of ethnologists, being less precise and more general in their character, must be accepted with some allowance. " He examined all the available skulls of ancient races and of modern uncivilized races to the number of about three thousand, and tabulated more than one-half of them, which were classified as follows: Ancient British, 203 ; Roman British, 143; Anglo-Saxon, 76 ; and Ancient Egyptian, 36. Of modern uncivilized races : North American, 145 ; Polynesian, 204; East Indian, 223 ; African, 438 ; and Australian, 165. " From a careful analysis of the measurements given in his tables I find that the average width of the dental arch, from first molar across to first molar, in the skulls of ancient races, was a trifle less than two and three-eighths inches ; the same measurement of the uncivilized moderns showed an average width of a trifle above two and a half inches. " The narrowest measurement given by him of any skull of any race is two and one-eighth inches. " The highest average of any race is nearly two and three- quarter inches, and these belong to the New Zealander, the Fiji Islander and the Ashantees. " The narrowest average was found among the Hottentots and Bushmen of South Africa. 44 In these tables there is abundant evidence that the full measure and type of both dental and maxillary arches has been sustained among all races of simple habits, of all ages. " Dr. Nichols, a dentist who spent twelve years in the Rocky Mountains on the Pacific coast, during which period he examined the mouths of thousands of Indians and Chinese, informed me that he never saw an instance of irregularity of the teeth in either of these races, with but one exception, and that a displaced canine in the mouth of a Chinese woman. The jaws of both races are uni versally well formed and amply developed ; and this., is also true of all semi-barbarous and savage races of good physical organ ization. " The standard of normality of the dental arch is a curved line expanding as it approaches the ends, and the teeth all standing on that line. " Abnormality will include such a shape of the arch as is not in harmony with the surrounding features - all crowding and twisting and all departures from a regular line in the positions of the teeth. " Almost the only answer received by the dental student as to the cause of these irregularities has been ' premature extraction of the milk teeth,' and consequent contraction of the jaw; and this answer has been almost universally accepted without a question as to its philosophy. " It is only within a few years that any one has been bold enough to doubt the universally accepted theory which so glibly accounted for every presentation of abnormality. " No one of extended observation will hesitate in believing that there is a faculty or power at work, modifying materially the phy sique of the present generation, altogether inexplicable by the too commonly asserted influencing power of climate, hygiene or diet. " One of the most alarming characteristics of the present age and the present civilization is found in the rapidity of its move ments and the activity of its mind, in the larger aggregate of highly organized and excessively developed nervous systems and in the increasing tendency to nervous and brain diseases. " As the peculiarities of progenitors in mind, temperament and physique are by nature stamped upon their offspring, we see a gen eration of children inheriting a tendency to a nervous exaltation which every slight favoring circumstance encourages and stimulates. This is unquestionably more noticeable in the centers of luxury in this country than in any other portion of the civilized globe. " Fathers who are under a mental strain to the verge of insanity transmit that exaltation to their offspring. Children are no longer children except in their immature physical development ; their emotions are under constant stimulus and excitement, and if there is not in all instances an absolute intellectual precocity, we have relatively a mental and nervous development far in advance of the physical. Hence if the mental is only up to the average of its years, we find it associated with anything but a robust physique ; and the contrast remains the same. One of the manifestations of this precocious emotional and exquisitely developed nervous sys tem is its influence upon the development of the teeth, while the physical system is following in tardy but vain efforts to keep pace with it. " My argument from this universally recognized condition is this: During the formative and eruptive periods of the permanent teeth, they are under the influence of an independent and peculiar vital force ; this innervation pushes on their development and erup tion regardless of the more tardy growth of the bony system ; being implanted in a crowded position, in undeveloped jaws, they never have an opportunity to recover from it, and emerge in the same disordered arrangements in which the cr9wns were formed. " The grounds for such an opinion are not merely theoretical but are the results of observations in private practice for more than a quarter of a century. " In a personal investigation of the mouths of congenital idiots found in the asylums of this country, in Great Britain and France, together with the Cretins of Switzerland, are found with hardly an exception broad jaws and well-developed teeth, showing that when the mind was inactive and the brain sluggish the teeth grew nor mally and in regular order. " A perfect dental development is the result of well-balanced physical and nervous systems, without hereditary taint. " There can be no question that the Creator intended there should be perfect harmony in the development of physical and nervous systems, and that where such harmony exists we come nearest to the standard of a perfect organization. This harmony of organization, or true balance of the two systems, demands that in the earlier years of life the brain and the nervous system be held in abeyance to the physical. " The healthier mental organization is of slower growth. If, therefore, we find that a certain mode of life destroys this harmony - breaks up this balance-there will follow necessarily deteriora tion and destruction of the race ; and this is based on well-recog nized physiological law. If the brain and the nervous system are in an undue state of activity, the drain upon the sources of nutri tion will be at the expense of the physical system. " No force operating on the brain can interrupt or alter the type or inherited model of the dental arch, after the first ten years of life. " I do not hesitate to place it upon record that the next genera tion will see more of abnormality in dental development, and an increase of nervous and cerebral diseases, and that the two are related and spring from the same cause. " It is too late to stop it in those who have passed infancy, but it is not too late to modify and partially remedy the evil in those now being born, and those who may be begotten hereafter. " To fathers and mothers surrounded by luxury and flattered with the precocity of their infants, which they are stimulating to the last degree, I say you are the enemies of your race ; you are sowing the seed of nervous, mental and physical disorders from which the harvest will be fearful, and the end death to your family and to your name. Do not, under peril, encourage this brilliancy of your child, which is now so charming rather let the mind stagnate. " For the first seven years of life give concern only o his morals and to his physique ; nourish him as you would nourish an animal from which you desired the finest development, stimulating only his moral nature, and his intellect will take care of itself. Thus, if he have no hereditary taint, you will have laid the foundation of a splendid specimen of his race. " But first, if you want to come back to this web site again, just add it to your bookmarks or favorites now! Then you'll find it easy! 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