Bobby Pins Cause Notched Teeth of American Women

Lake County Mail, Issue 25, 12 November 1947, Page 9

Bobby Pins Cause Notched Teeth of American Women

A United States dentist has announced that he lias solved a problem which lias puzzled United States dentists for years: What causes the notches on millions of United States women’s upper front teeth? In Colorado Springs a young woman in Dentist Walter Cogswell’s office showed him ugly notches in her upper front teeth. She was not in the habit of holding a pencil or any other hard object in her teeth. “ Please give me one of your bobbypins,” said Dentist Cogswell. The patient took one out of her hair. “ Now put it back.” The young woman promptly popped the pin into her mouth and opened it with one of her notched teeth- before slipping it into her hair. Hundreds Examined To check the bobby-pin theory, the Cogswell family (all dentists) examined hundreds of stenographers, nurses and housewives. Sure enough, three out of five had the tell tale notches. Many completely unaware of their habit, indignantly denied that they ever used their teeth to open bobbypins. But Dr Walter’s test generally proved that they did. He also found that notched teeth were most common in young women aged 17 to 24.