GERMS IN MOUTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 October 1940, Page 4

GERMS IN MOUTH

DANGERS OF HUMAN TOOTH WOUNDS. “What animal carries the greatest number of harmful germs in its mouth?" asks the “News-Week.” “Not the dog, for the adage ‘as clean as a hound’s tooth’ is medically sounddoctors know that while a canine bite may inflict a wound it isn’t likely to ‘cause infection unless the dog has rabies. And not the horse, the bear or the pig. According to many physicians who study wounds, the dirtiest of all mouths is the human mouth, which commonly contains pus-forming, staphylococci bacteria, various streptococci and the organisms responsible for trench mouth. “Last week, in the' issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, Drs. Margaret N. Barnes and Basil G. Bibby of the University of Rochester announced a study of the dangers of human tooth wounds and confirmed the view that the mouth of man is a menagerie of germs. They believed that the most common cause of tooth-produced injuries was fighting, in which flying fists contact teeth with results sometimes more disastrous to the puncher than the punched. Their case list also included infections from nail-biting, lip-nibbling and other nervous habits. “In all. the Rochester dentists investigated 341 chses, 14 of which required amputations and 4 ended fatally.” In view of the fact that fighting is usually part and parcel of the normal boys’ school life the need of parents to take an interest in the state of their children's teeth is obvious from the above article. With that thought in mind the convenor of the meeting of all interested in the affairs of the Masterton Dental Clinic Committee hopes for a large attendance at a meeting to be held in the Lansdowne School on October 14.