THE PROPER CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH
To be beautiful one must have an ideal of beauty and strive always to
reach it. Wishing to make and keep the mouth beautiful, we must have
ever in our minds an image of a beautiful mouth.
What must a mouth be to be beautiful? Ideals about beauty differ
greatly, but there can scarcely be any difference of opinion about the
attributes of an attractive mouth. It must be well shaped.
It must be red, but not too red. The teeth must be, or seem to be,
perfect.
If I were harsh enough to criticise American women, I should say that
their eyes are beautiful, but their mouths are not so beautiful. I
should say that their lips are too thin. I should say also that their
teeth are not perfect. I should qualify this by saying that I am
speaking of the average, not the exceptional, American woman.
The reason for this fault of lips that are too thin and too straight
lies chiefly in character, and there we have a paradox, for it is
not a fault of character. American women have immense self-reliance,
tremendous decision, and these are written in lips that might be carved
from pink marble, straight, fine, unyielding. I would not change those
admirable traits of character, but I would use massage to relax the
muscles about the lips and remove that drawn expression.
The pleasing mouth has lips that curve from thin outer corners to a
ripe fullness at the middle. The sweep should be upward to a fine cleft
at the middle of the upper lip. A deep cleft just above the upper lip
is one of the recognized marks of beauty. The lower lip should be
straighter and not so full as the upper. Much has been said about the
beauties of the lips, but nothing has been said more illuminative than
the phrase “Cupid’s bow.”
Study the gentle sweep of a bow, held in place by a cord. It adheres to
the rule, “Curves are the lines of beauty.” The curve is soft, tender.
It seems to be the blending of countless curves. So the mouth. I once
saw the mouth of a cruel woman described as being “like a slit in a
stone wall.” I thought the phrase apt.
I believe in allowing the mouth to take care of itself. It is its
surroundings, its environment, so to speak, that is important. Look to
the lines from nostrils to lips. See that they are removed by massage.
Massage restores circulation. Massage is like a system of irrigation
for waste land. Creases are caused by lack of circulation. The muscles
that hold the mouth in a firm line are thread-like, one just above and
at the sides of the lips. It is most important to keep these taut by
massage.
As to color, I have said that the lips should not be too red. The
normal lips should be the same color as the gums, and has not your
dentist said to you, “Your gums are too red, are not healthy”? So the
lips should be a deep pink, or a light red. Not blood color, but three
shades at least lighter than a stream of arterial blood. I make this
distinction because venous blood may be bluish, and far from a model
for the healthful color of the lips.
An Italian authority on beauty said the beautiful mouth must always be
open enough to show five teeth. This is attractive, but not hygienic.
The teeth are to the beauty of the mouth as important as the keystone
to an arch. Without the keystone there can be no arch. Without lovely
teeth the beauty of the mouth does not exist. The lips are a promise of
beauty. The teeth are its fulfillment.
The teeth should be regular. They should not be crowded together, and
there should be no aggressively noticeable spaces between them. They
should be white, or seem white. The unromantic truth is that teeth are
never white. They are of three shades, blue, yellow and gray, always
one or the other. But in contrast with the lips they look white, and
the more vivid the lips the whiter do the teeth look in contrast. Which
is the reason, I suppose, that I have seen women with frightfully
overcarmined lips.
Now, how to make the mouth or keep the mouth well shaped, red but not
too red, and teeth to be or look perfect. The time to train our mouths
to beauty is in our infancy. Our mothers should begin the work, and
when we have reached years of intelligence, we should carry it forward.
If an infant’s mouth is too large it can be trained to lesser size by
tender pinching of the corners. This makes the line at the corners
almost indeterminate, and diminishes the size. Need I tell any mother
that this must be most gently and tenderly done? Also train the lips to
deepen their beauty cleft by pushing the middle portions together with
the first fingers. This light pressure four or five times a day, when
you are dressing the child in the morning and undressing her at night,
will marvelously refashion the mouth. I knew a Parisian mother who not
only made over her child’s mouth, but also the nose into good lines by
this light, discreet pinching.
If your mouth is defective, improve the shape of your lips by avoiding
careless habits. Many pretty women are disfigured by crude, careless
habits of mouthing their words, of chewing their lips, of ridiculous
labial contortions while they talk.
To correct them, practice in talking or reciting before a mirror. Note
whether you draw down the lips while you speak. Note whether you catch
them between your teeth and nervously chew them. Observe whether,
while you make a short speech, longitudinal lines form on the upper
lip. Notice whether your smile is simple, natural, unexaggerated, or
whether your mouth widens vacuously, or draws into a prim resemblance
to a buttonhole when you smile. When you have determined whether you
have any of these bad habits, determine to cure them, and do so. There
is but one way to cure them, and that is by remembering your fault and
avoiding it.
The lips should be lightly massaged before falling asleep. For that
massage this is my favorite pomade. You will observe that in no
preparation that I advise for the lips is any camphor. I dislike
camphor for the lips because it is an astringent, and the mouth is too
much inclined to pucker into unlovely lines without its aid. Try this:
Oil of sweet almonds, 125 grams; white wax, 28 grams; spermaceti, 28
grams; oil of bergamot, 1 gram; oil of geranium, 2 grams.
This softens the lips, effacing the tiny lines that form in the lips,
destroying their smooth surface, during the day. It can be varied by
another and simpler remedy:
Hydrated glycerine (50 per cent. water), 60 grams; rosewater, 20 grams.
Do not use glycerine alone on the lips nor on any other surface of the
body. It is too drying. It has the power to draw moisture from the
skin, and that moisture should by replaced by the water with which the
glycerine is mixed.
Leaving the shape, we come to the color of the lips. Preserve that by
keeping the bodily health good. If the circulation is defective the
lips will be pale. If we become anæmic, pallid lips will be one of the
first signs of our state. To make them healthily red improve the tone
of the system by two means. Be sure to sleep enough. You may need
eight hours or nine. You yourself know which. Take it.
Eat nourishing food. Eat often and lightly. That is far better than
to eat seldom and heartily. Better five light than three heavy meals
a day. Eat of meat sparingly, for most meats are hard to digest. Once
a day, and that at dinner, is often enough. But depend greatly upon
vegetables and eggs. Eggs have much iron in them. So, too, have string
beans, spinach and beets. Milk, too, is an excellent builder of new
tissues.
If, after a fortnight, your lips are still pallid, try the iron
injections I have before recommended. Do this under a physician’s
directions and you will surely be vastly benefited.
Mouth mannerisms are leaks of beauty. Self-conscious young women
draw down the corners of their mouths when they talk or when they
smile. They twist one corner of the mouth downward, making the mouth
one-sided. They even suck the lips inward, spoiling the contour of the
mouth. They rub their faces with nervous fingers. They elevate one
eyebrow and pull down the other. They twist locks of their hair. They
play with folds of their gowns, or with their desk ornaments. It is
only the deeply learned lesson that it is vulgar to play with articles
on the table that keeps them from drumming with their knives and forks
or twirling their plates.
This is deplorable, for it not only mars their beauty, but shows an
utter lack of inward calm. They must get into a state of peace, must
harmonize inward with outward conditions. A dozen times a day they must
say to themselves and must obey their own command: “Peace, be still.”
Talk, if you will, but don’t talk unless you have something to say.
Believe me, you can be interesting though silent, by being an
interested listener. Wild, aimless, excessively excited talking is one
of the biggest leaks of beauty.
The mouth, if too large, may be lightly massaged by using the middle
fingers of each hand to coax it toward the greater fullness at the
middle and less at the corners. If it be too small, rotary massage from
the corners of the lips will tend to widen it.
If the chin be too strong, the jaw too heavy, as it is sure to be
in these latter days of new equality, the fact can be rendered less
glaring by dressing the hair well forward above the forehead, so that
there will be a semblance of brow and chin being of equal weight, and
the face seem to be well balanced. If the chin is too weak the hair
should be well drawn back, so that the strength of the brow will seem
to make up the character deficit.
For lips that chap easily and always have a parched look let me advise
that this pomade be applied every night, freely massaged into the lips:
Cocoa butter, 24 grams; white wax, 4 grams; oil of rose geranium, 1
gram.
This should relieve an ordinary case. If it be an obstinate one,
suppose you try this remedy prescribed by the famous Dr. Vaucaire,
whose commandments are the decalogue of beauty-loving Paris:
Castor oil, 6 grams; cocoa butter, 20 grams; oil of birch, 4 drops;
extract of catechu, 2 grams; essence of star anise, 10 drops.
To make rough lips smooth try this:
Oil of sweet almonds, 1 ounce; spermaceti, 1 ounce; white wax, ¼ ounce;
oil of rose, 6 drops. Melt together slowly, then work into a firm cream.
The gums should be of a healthy red. If they look pale massage them
gently for five minutes several times a day with this compound:
Woundwort water, 100 grams; horseradish extract, 12 grams; oil of
cloves, 1 drop. Dilute with an equal quantity of water.
The wholesome woman tries to keep her breath as “sweet as the kine’s,”
recalling the exclamation of Byron. She keeps a jar of bicarbonate of
soda on her bathroom shelf and takes a teaspoonful in a glass of water
whenever needed. She always drinks two or three glasses of cool water
slowly on rising. This is because when the stomach is in the tubular
shape that it is in the morning it lends itself easily to the work
done by the water, of cleansing the stomach for its work of the day.
To correct acid conditions of mouth or stomach she takes a couple of
unsweetened charcoal tablets now and then, and this is her favorite
mouth pastille:
Unsweetened chocolate, 1½ ounces; white sugar, ½ ounce; charcoal
powder, ½ ounce.
These are more easily taken if mixed to the consistency of paste by the
addition of dissolved gum arabic, cooled and cut into tablets.
For the care and preservation of the teeth four things are essential.
They are: Proper diet, proper tooth brush, proper tooth powders or
pastes, and proper mouth baths.
But beyond any doubt the first safeguard is to have a reliable,
skillful dentist--if you can make sure of finding one. One may go on
for years with false confidence in a dentist before one finds out her
sad mistake.
I go to a dentist once a month to have my teeth examined. No one should
let more than three months at most pass without a visit to the dentist
for an inspection of the teeth.
The best dentist is none too good. The careless or ignorant or lazy or
dishonest dentist may cause irreparable damage. And the saddest part of
it is that we are at the mercy of the dentist, because we cannot know
whether his work is good or bad until the damage is done.
There often come on the teeth, particularly between them where food
is permitted to lodge, small dark stains, which really are the first
warnings or premonitory signs of decay. If allowed to remain, the
enamel eventually disintegrates, and we have a cavity, which must then
be excavated and filled. Before this discoloration has advanced to
an actual breaking down of the tooth structure, it may very properly
and successfully be removed or polished away by the dentist’s engine
and the sandpaper disc used for this purpose and for smoothing gold
fillings.
The honest dentist will do this, and restore the tooth to its original
color and soundness, after which it may be, with care, indefinitely
preserved, but the unscrupulous dentist may, of course, construe this
suspicious-looking spot as caries, and he may wickedly cut away sound
tooth surface, fill in with the customary unsightly gold or amalgam,
and the unsuspecting victim pays the bill and departs none the wiser.
Of course, in front teeth it is especially a misfortune to make a
cavity where it could have been avoided.
Let us consider now the diet. We must avoid extremes. The English
girl’s answer to the question, “Why do you have such beautiful
complexions?” might as well have been made to another query: “Why do
English girls have such beautiful teeth?” The girl replied: “Because we
never eat anything very sweet or sour, nor anything very hot or cold.”
That is an excellent rule.
Whoever follows it will adopt an admirable dietary. Also live if
possible in a region whose soil is strongly impregnated with lime.
That its soil is so strongly impregnated with lime is the reason why
the Bluegrass region of Kentucky is as famous for the beauty of its
women as of its horses. Much lime in the soil means much lime in the
products thereof, and whoever eats of these products has strong bones
and correspondingly strong teeth. But we may not all live in Kentucky,
and unfortunately there is not enough lime soil to extend over the
world. So we must make up for this lack by careful attention to our
diet.
Let me explain why the diet is of so great importance. Those foods
which contain lime strengthen the teeth. Fifty-four and seven-tenths
of the composition of the teeth is phosphate of lime, when they are in
normal condition. To get as much lime as possible into the system, and
so into the teeth, is as necessary as to have as much iron as possible
in the framework of the house. The iron in the framework of the house
will resist fire. The lime in the teeth will prevent their softening
and decay.
Therefore, gluten and whole wheat bread and the cooked cereals, instead
of cakes and white bread and sweets, should be eaten. These should be
supplemented by various preparations of phosphates to introduce lime
into the system. A simple lime water, which can be prepared by any
housewife or any intelligent employé of a housewife, is one of the best
of these preparations:
Clean, unslacked lime, 1 teacupful; water, 2 quarts. Put the lime into
a pitcher and pour the water over it. Stir the mixture, or shake it
until it looks like milk. Then pour off the water. Fill the pitcher
again with pure water. Again stir or shake thoroughly. Tie over the
pitcher a piece of muslin to keep out the dust and possible floating
germs. Let it stand in a clean, cool place until the water is clear.
Pour the clear portion into clean, glass-stoppered bottles.
Another method is to use a tablespoonful of lime water in a tumbler of
milk.
If the teeth are soft from deficiency of mineral salts or sensitive
from the presence of excessive acids the dose can be increased to two
or three tablespoonfuls.
It is well after eating acid fruits to rinse the mouth carefully two
or three times with lime water or any alkaline mouth wash. Or when
the teeth have been irritated, or unpleasantly affected, or the gums
irritated by a food or medicine to which they are unaccustomed it is
well to rub precipitated chalk about the necks of the teeth and between
the teeth. It is well also to rinse the mouth with milk of magnesia at
night before retiring.
Again let me suggest that diet is of immense importance for two
reasons. If the diet be an unwise one it may create an excess of uric
acid, which makes itself manifest in the mouth and causes the teeth to
decay about the necks, that is, the portion enclosed by the gums, a
state to be avoided, for the cavities thus formed are hard to reach and
are the most painful to be operated upon by the dentist.
Again, the diet is important because if there is an undue fermentation
or any other unwholesome condition in the stomach the gases and acids
arising from these discolor the teeth.
Therefore, avoid, as I have said, articles of diet that are very sweet
or very sour, and articles of drink that are very hot or very cold. For
example, do not eat candy, pastry, puddings, except those consisting
chiefly of fruit; ices, pickles or sour oranges or grape fruit. Do not
drink sour lemonade, nor limeade. Avoid ice water or very hot tea or
coffee. I am extremely careful about my diet, quite as much for the
care of my teeth as for my complexion.
As soon as I rise in the morning I place my tooth brush, which should
be soft and shaped to fit the teeth, in a mug of hot water. I let it
remain there for a half hour, until I have had my bath and my alcohol
rub. This hint I received from my dentist, who said that it would
make the bristles soft, besides swelling them so that they would fill
the spaces for them in the brush, and thus prevent the bristles from
loosening and detaching themselves from the brush and irritating the
gums.
Always use a good tooth powder or paste which a reliable chemist has
analyzed and pronounced pure. Simple, pleasant and beneficial to gums
and teeth is this:
Camphor gum, 1 ounce; precipitated chalk, 5 ounces; pulverized orris
root, 3 ounces.
A good variant of this is the following:
Precipitated chalk, ½ pound; powdered starch, ½ pound; powdered orris
root, ¼ pound; sulphate of quinine, ¼ dram.
One of my own favorite powders is made according to this formula:
Carbonate of magnesia, powdered, 3 ounces; powdered orris root, 1
ounce; powdered sugar, 1 ounce; castile soap, ½ ounce; powdered
precipitate of chalk, 10 ounces; oil of roses, 25 drops; oil of lemon,
5 drops; oil of wintergreen, 5 drops; tannin, 15 drops.
I recommend also this as helpful and agreeable:
Precipitated chalk, ½ pound; powdered borax, ¼ pound; powdered myrrh, ¼
pound; powdered orris root, ¼ dram.
Another simple and effective preparation is this:
Powdered chalk, 2 ounces; oil of peppermint, 2 drops.
A good antiseptic powder for occasional use I have found to be this:
Bicarbonate of soda, 1 ounce; cinnamon, 1 ounce; oil of cinnamon, 2
drops.
If my teeth are discolored I brush them thoroughly with this powder:
Sugar of milk, 200 grams; powdered catechu, 3 grams; oil of peppermint,
4 drops; oil of anise, 4 drops; oil of orange flower, 4 drops. Pour
into the sugar of milk a few drops of alcohol. Add the catechu,
stirring them thoroughly. Sift them through bolting cloth and sprinkle
the oil of peppermint, the oil of anise and the oil of orange flower
into the powder.
Another which is less expensive, and is also excellent, is this:
Precipitated chalk, 500 grams; pulverized orris root, 250 grams;
pulverized camphor gum, 12 grams; alcohol (95 per cent.), 10 drops.
This should be sifted through bolting cloth to remove lumps that might
irritate the gums.
It has always been my habit to use powder only once a day and that in
the morning. I think it enough, because too much tooth powder in time
wears away the enamel. Yet my dentist tells me that the best time to
use tooth powder is at night, because the salivary glands, being quiet
during sleep, when we do not talk or eat, do not then secrete the
saliva, whose flow has a cleansing action.
After each meal I use dental floss, drawing it between the teeth to
remove any particles of food that may have lodged between them. Hard
toothpicks are liable to crack the enamel. Also I give the mouth a
bath, that is, I thoroughly rinse it several times with a good mouth
wash.
Of preparations for liquid dentifrices and mouth baths there is no end.
This, “the bath of roses,” is my favorite, and I rinse my mouth with it
after each meal and before retiring:
Tincture of orris root, 8 drams; spirit of roses, 8 fluid drams;
alcohol, 95 per cent., 8 fluid drams.
An agreeable preparation for a mouth bath is made of:
Powdered borax, 3 drams; honey water, 2 ounces; castile soap
(powdered), 1 ounce; warm water, 1 pint; oil of cloves, 2 drops.
Dissolve the powdered soap in the warm water. Add the other ingredients
and shake well.
Either of the following washes will be found excellent for the teeth:
Tannic acid, 1 ounce; oil of wintergreen, 1 dram; powdered orris root,
4 ounces; alcohol, 4 ounces; water, 4 ounces.
Tincture of orris root, 1 ounce; tincture of musk, 4 drops; oil of
rose, 2 drops; oil of neroli, 4 drops; oil of peppermint, 4 drops; oil
of spearmint, 4 drops; oil of ylang ylang, 1 drop; alcohol, 3 ounces;
water, 8 ounces.
Here is one which, besides being agreeable, has a medicinal value in
being a disinfectant:
Thymol, 3 grains; alcohol, 3 ounces; benzoic acid, 40 grains; tincture
of eucalyptus, 3 drams; essence wintergreen, 5 drops.
Easily obtainable, too, is this and very soothing to irritated gums:
Permanganate of potash, 10 grains; distilled water, 1 ounce.
Another simple mouth wash which I have frequently employed with good
results is made as follows:
Chlorate of potash, 2 drams; rosewater, 6 ounces.
For a mouth bath after a meal a solution made by adding a tablespoonful
of bicarbonate of soda to a tumbler of water is useful.
Use dental floss more and the toothbrush less. The toothbrush should be
soft and should be shaped to adapt itself to the teeth. It should slant
toward the front, with a tuft on the end so that the bristles can work
their way into all the crevices between the teeth.
I am glad that toothpicks have come to be classed with vulgar things.
A member of Parliament at a dinner in London played nervously with his
toothpick and thrust the end of it into his finger. The toothpick had
harbored some dangerous microbe, for the statesman had to have two
fingers amputated. The danger of infection from toothpicks is great.
Dental floss being protected from vagrant germs by its casing, and the
end being cut off as soon as used, is much safer, besides being less
irritant to the tender gums.
If the teeth are not straight, have them straightened. If there are
wide spaces between them have them drawn closer together. Dentists can
do this by fastening rubber bands about the neck of the teeth. It is
tedious and painful, but it is worth while. For a tiny space, but an
undue one between the teeth, may change the natural expression of the
face. I know an American statesman, whose face is of the strong, noble
lines of a statue of granite, but who takes on a fatuous expression
when he smiles, because there is a considerable space between his two
upper front teeth. After the teeth are drawn into their proper place,
they are secured by small bands of gold or by a rod at the back of the
teeth.
If the teeth are permanently discolored it may be because you need a
dentist’s services. It is well to call on him at least every three
months. Every two months is still better. His examination will show
any fault in the teeth that may be a tiny one, but which if neglected
for three months longer would be troublesome. Frequent visits to
conscientious dentists are best for your teeth and best for your purse.
The teeth are the most important of the appointments, the furnishings,
so to speak, of the mouth. They must be kept perfect at all costs of
care and forethought. But they, like all portions of a woman’s body,
must be delicately treated. Tooth powder should not be used more than
once a day. And that in the morning. For the rest dental floss and a
delicate liquid dentrifice after each meal and before retiring.