THE CARE OF TEETH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 880, 18 August 1910, Page 4

THE CARE OF TEETH.

Examination by a dentist, catechism in dental hygiene and public dental infirmaries, as preventive methods of caring for the teeth of school children, were urged by Doctor William H. Potter in a lecture at the Harvard Medical School recently. “Children whose teeth need repair should be urged through suitable notices to their parents to go to a practitioner for treatment," he said, “In the case of poor children there must be a dental infirmary of some sort for their reception and care. I am glad to say that the dental profession is beginning to feel its responsibility in this regard to the communities in which its members practice, and that of late in many localties where dental infirmaries have not existed such institutions are in a fair way of being established.’’ Absolutely nothing can stop the adoption of dental inspection in our public schools. It has got to come. Germany has adopted it and made it compulsory for children to have their teeth examined and cared for, and in some municipalities it has even gone so far as the city paying for the work - on the children’s teeth. From the scientific standpoint it can be absolutely proved that astounding conditions exist, and that the poor condition of the teeth of the children in the schools costs the school board money, actually, for the children do poor work, work more slowly, and educating them is therefore more expensive and less productive of good results than if the children could do their best work. They cannot without good teeth. The mouth is the gateway of the body, and there the germs enter the body. Poor and ill cared for teeth cause sore mouths, toothache, and consequent nervousness, The matter of dental inspection is being taken up throughout the country by the sheer force of its own importance.