SOLDIERS' TEETH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2932, 18 November 1916, Page 11

SOLDIERS' TEETH

CAMP DENTAL HOSPITALS

ATTENDING TO THE RECRUITS

The recruits for llio Twenty-third .Reinforcements began to mobilise afc Trentham this week, and before those moil had been in camp very long ihcy realised tho truth. of the adage Mat an army travels on its stomach—in llio full gastronomic sense, and not in the humorous one, as portrayed by Captain Bruce JBairnsl'ather. But the old adage lias been amplified of late years, and'now it'should read, "An army travels on its stomach, and exists by the virtue of its teeth." The teetii of tho Tivenfcy-tliird, like those of mauy drafts that havo preceded them, will be wetl attended to by the Camp Dental Hospital at Trentham, and, later on, at'Fcatlierston, for mucli of tile work concerns the making and fitting of dentures, or' sets of false tcetli, and with nearly 2000 to attend to, the work takes time, and, moreover, lias to be fitted in . with ■ other phases of the men's training. 'J ho soldier-patient has this advantage over the civilian, who decides that he ought to see a aentist: the whole thing is arranged for him. - From t-li* charts of «ach .man's mouth, which are made by t the examining dentists at the recruiting stations and sent to tho camp when the men go in, the clerical staff at the Dental Hospital, which is in charge of a quartermaster-sergeant and two corporals, send out appoint-ment-cards to,the company commanders These are dispatched under a. covering -letter signed by the Camp Adjutant. So the request becomes an order for, the delivory of the appoint-ment-cards to the men, and. for their attendance at the hospital at tho specified time. A corporal takes the men along, and leaves them in the waitingroom, where the orderlies keep an eye on them. Hut it must bo said that the men go willingly, for tho dental hospitals.nave an excellent name among the troops for care and gentle treatment. While awaiting his turn, the recruit has glimpses of: a : busy scene in the dental quarters, where twelve whitecoated operators, three of whom are captains and tho others lieutenants of the New Zeafand Dental Corps, are attending to patients in chairs that are ranged in a row along one side of the surgery. At the other side of the room, nine mechanics, a ser-geaut-major and eight sergeants, work &t high pressure at benches and braziers, while white-coated orderlies movo to and fro, assisting operators and mechanics. There is no noise, no fuss, and everything ■is conducted on business lines, of which a simple card system is the basis. When the soldier is called his chart has automatically become the top one m a drawer, which is labelled for treatment that day. The operator sees at a glance what work has to be done' from the chart; every tooth in tho human jaw has a number. The four back teeth, in bofth jaws, are numbered 8; the four front teeth are numbered 1, and the intervening molars and incisors take the 1 intervening numbers in their t>rder v If the chart is curved in the band in the way that the jaw, is cur,vsd, to look at it is like looking into the patient's, mouth. The order-' of treatment of the fault 6 in the man's teeth is. rapidly decided - upon. The aperator turns to'his instruments, and speaks to an assistant, and the soldier leans back with most of the trepidation removed irom his mind by the confidence which comes with a recognition of businesslike skill. In the next chair is a calm-looking soldier. , At first sight he appears to be asleep. But lie opens his eyes and ivinks .at the newcomer. He is waiting to have an impression taken % a den-, ture. Presently his operator returnij. ihe patient opens his mouth wide,, and shows gums devoid of teeth save Tor two in the upper jaw near the frontj and a little apart from one another. A mould is fitted against the gums, and from a bowl which an assistant holds plaster of paris is poured into the mould.. Tho plaster sets quickly, and when the mould is withdrawn it bears a cast of the patient's guma.. The mechanics' work begins now. From the fragile plaster of paris, the casting is worked up in wax, then in rubber, and afterwards' the rubber is vulcanised to get the requisite toughness and hardness. Soldiers' dentures ire made of unusual strength, though the weight of them scarcely exceeds that of dentures made for civilians, tflw live on a softer diet than soldiers have in war time. Beund the teeth the. vulcanite extends well towards the bitiug and shewing edges, so as to minimise the [isk of a broken tooth on hard , army rare j and the teeth and vulcanite are 3f a superior quality for the same reasons. The best work only is done by 'he Camp Dental Hospital, and this is iccomplished under difficulties wliich night be expected to baulk operators .vbo have been accustomed! to gas heaters and all tho other conveniences ivbich are available, in town. In the iiechanical department all heat is supplied by primus stovos, tho care of ivliich is in the hands of orderlies. Hot jvatcr is foiled by the same means. I robably in no other work have primus stoves beon worked so continuously, lay. in, day out, in providing roaring heat which . consumes' three eases of kerosene at each hospital per week. The hours of work are from 8.15 a.m. till noon, with a quarter-hour smokeall at 10.15, and from 1.30 till 5,' with i similar short respite.' Duriug these hours tho pace is keen andl the attention close, for the operators have ever before tliem the knowledge that had tvork would bring discredit on them; ind, they know that but for tho organisatiort, of which they are important units, one-third of the recruits who are now available for tho army would bo passed out as unfit. The Camp Dental Hospitals are un:ler tho direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Hun tor, while the principal dental officers, at Trentham and Foatherston, respectively, ,aro Captain Winstone and Captain Hursthouse. A company sorgeant-major is in chargo of the staff for N.C.O.S. aitd orderlies at each hospital. From - oanip to camp, tlio charts, inarked .with the progress of the work, movo with the troops, and finally they are sent back to headquarters to he filed as complete, ivliilo now ones tako their places in the pigeonlinlo, and tho work goes on, and tho soldiers, who havo been given fresh vitality with their new teeth havo nothing hut praise for the treatment) they havo had at. tho hands of the busy operators. Tho motto on the cap badges ivorn by tho officers, n.c.o.'s, and men uf tho dental hospitals is, in plain English, "Out of evil comes good"—and it is an appropriate one.