The "Humours" of Dentistry.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 14 November 1912, Page 4

The "Humours" of Dentistry.

Tho general public were not admitted to tho Dental Exhibition hold this year in London, whoro over a million teeth and hundreds of instruments wore displayed. Tho exclusion was perhaps unnecessary, for one can scarcely imagine anyono but a dentist or a doctor visiting an exhibition that would call up such painful momorios. There wetys, however, several features of interest to the general public, which wero duly described in tho nowspapers. Among the teeth wero curious black exhibits, specially manufactured for the natives of Stain, in doferenco to their habit of chewing betel nut, which stains their teeth to the darkness of ebony. "We have oven had orders for sky blue, green and scarlet teeth," said tho manager of the stall to an Express representative. Tho potentates of Northern India love plenty of bright colours, evon when it comes to a question of tooth, bo wo occasionally receive requests from Oriental customers for a sky blue sot for stato functions." Among the most artistic exhibits wero smokers' tooth, which havo to he hand-painted to match tho nicotine stains. Another pressman was struck by the number and variety of tho instruments displayed. Probably everyhody who has waited in a dentist's chair for the ordeal to begin has wondered what tho various instruments lying to hand aro for, but those aro only a. fraction of what the dontist might havo. At this exhibition one firm of instrument makers showed forceps of o. hundred ami fifty different shapes, and instruments of five hundred different designs for stopping teeth. But such things, we aro told, aro for "superdentists" ; the ordinary operator confines himself to oight. "The comfort on looking at tho little stool weapons is to remember that they aro all for the purpose of making dontistry as painless as passible." Chinese dentists, is was recalled to tho Standard's representative by one expert at the exhibition, managed without ainv instruments at all. They used their fingers, and an interesting development of tho most modern dentistry is a revival of this practice among American dentists, a number of whom now dispense with forceps in extracting teeth, and rely on strong and supple fingers.