Health to a large extent depends upon the teeth. Food can not be
properly masticated without sound molars. The modern tendency of teeth
to decay early in life clearly proves that something is wrong with our
dietetic or chewing habits. Like any other part of the body, the teeth
must be exercised in order to be properly preserved. Our foods are so
frequently macerated to a fine consistency and they are so often cooked
to a mush before they are eaten, that the teeth have little to do. They
decay and become soft or brittle because of lack of use.
It is necessary to give the teeth a reasonable amount of regular use.
Cultivate the habit of eating zwieback, hard crackers or other hard
food substances that require real vigorous chewing. If this is
difficult, then make a habit of exercising the teeth in some way. The
idea suggested in the illustrations accompanying this chapter will be
found of value, though any method can be recommended that serves the
same purpose. Do not, however, depend upon the chewing of gum for
hours each day as a means of exercising the teeth. Chewing a hard gum
for a few minutes after a meal might be of advantage, but continual gum-
chewing wastes and weakens the digestive elements of the saliva. In
other words, if you sit down to a meal after chewing gum for two or
three hours, the saliva that you mix with your food will not have the
normal digestive elements. One might say that the "strength" of the
saliva has been lost while chewing gum.
If your teeth are decayed the offending members should be removed or the
cavities filled. It is always wise to retain every tooth you can until
extraction is practically compulsory. Decayed teeth should be filled
promptly. As long as a tooth can be filled it should not be extracted.
A good dentist should be consulted at frequent intervals.
If tartar has collected on the teeth, it should be removed by a
competent dentist. One good method of keeping the teeth free from tartar
is to rub the gums and teeth daily with table salt containing
considerable grit. Dampen the finger, place a quantity of table salt
thereon and then rub the teeth where they meet the gums. Make the
process sufficiently vigorous to rub off any tartar that may have
accumulated. The mouth should be rinsed with moderately warm water
immediately after this process to remove the salt. Any good tooth wash
that is sold in the form of paste can be used instead of salt for
this same purpose. This rubbing process is of more value to strengthen
the gums and to cleanse the teeth than brushing the teeth with an
ordinary tooth brush.
Tooth brushes, however, are valuable and should be used morning and
evening. In caring for the teeth the following plan is suggested:
Soon after rising rinse the mouth out thoroughly with a mild antiseptic
tooth wash; soap, or salt and water, is fairly good if nothing better
can be obtained. Plain water will also serve the purpose. Lemon juice to
which considerable water has been added, also makes a good mouth wash.
Orange juice can also be recommended.
It may be said that most of the standard tooth powders and tooth pastes
on the market at the present time are fairly reliable and satisfactory,
particularly those of which the formula is printed on the wrapper. When
brushing the teeth, avoid using a brush with the bristles too hard. A
medium- or even a soft-bristle brush is preferable. The lateral action
of the tooth brush, commonly used, is of limited value. One should use
a vertical or up-and-down movement, so that the bristles will reach the
crevices between the teeth. It is the spaces between the teeth
that particularly need cleaning and the brush should be used in such a
way as to reach these. It is here that decay usually begins.
After having brushed the teeth then rub them in the manner previously
described. Spend two or three or even four or five minutes at this
rubbing process. If the teeth are free from tartar do not use the salt
more than once or twice weekly, though any good tooth paste could be
used daily to advantage, not for brushing the teeth, mind you, but for
rubbing the gums and teeth.
For removing accumulated food substances from between the teeth silk or
linen floss can be recommended. Holding the thread between the fingers
of each hand force it down between two teeth and bring it back and forth.
If you have no regular dental floss, use any white silk thread
for the purpose. It does not do one much good to brush the teeth if
he does not remove decaying and acid-forming matter from between the
teeth. The use of dental floss is fully as important as the use of a
tooth brush. Where Rigg's disease, or pyorrhea, is present, an
antiseptic can be used to advantage two or three times daily after
rubbing or washing the teeth. Massage of the gums may prove helpful,
if gently applied, though in a serious case of pyorrhea a fasting and
general blood-purifying regimen is advisable.
The condition of the teeth is influenced to a large extent by the state
of the stomach. Where the digestion is perfect, the breath free from all
foul odors, the teeth are less liable to decay and tartar rarely
accumulates. Where there is any stomach disorder, however, very great
care must be taken to avoid a number of unpleasant symptoms associated
with the gradual deterioration of the teeth. If the various suggestions
I have made in this volume for maintaining superior health are followed
with a reasonable amount of care, and the tooth brush is used regularly,
in addition to proper attention being given to thorough mastication, the
teeth should be retained as long as there is use for them. Remember,
however, the very important suggestion made in another chapter in
reference to the value of fruit acid in cleansing the mouth and teeth.
If you will rinse the mouth out at frequent intervals with the juice
of an orange or eat part or all of an orange, you will be
surprised at the cleansing influence of this acid fruit. Almost any
acid fruit will be of value, but the orange is perhaps the best for this
purpose. The free use of water to insure alimentary cleanliness together
with the acid fruit habit will form a very superior insurance for our
teeth.
Finally, and of not least importance, the character of the diet has a
great influence on the teeth. You cannot keep the teeth sound and
strong if the foods you eat do not contain the material out of which
teeth are built. If the food elements that build teeth and bone are
lacking, you cannot expect the teeth to last long. A great hue and cry
has been raised about the poor teeth of the school children of to-day,
and an effort is being made to teach the children to brush their
teeth. Of course this is good as far as it goes, but it does not go far
when the children are fed upon a diet that is defective. When you find
the child of a poor family given a diet of little more than white bread
and coffee you can absolutely depend upon it that his teeth are
crumbling and decaying. No other result is possible, no matter if the
greatest of care is used to keep the teeth well brushed and clean.
Therefore, my remarks in another chapter upon the influence of refined
foods will apply particularly in the case of the teeth. A
satisfactory supply of lime in the diet is especially necessary for
building teeth and bone. Whole-wheat bread will supply the material for
building sound teeth, while oatmeal and other whole grain foods are
almost equally satisfactory for this purpose.
Some women lose their teeth rapidly as a result of pregnancy, because
the diet upon which they live is really a starvation diet so far as
these important elements are concerned. Eggs are rich in lime and
elements required for building strong teeth, while vegetables and
fruits in their natural state are valuable in this way. Good milk is
of value for its supply of lime and other organic minerals in the case
of young children. Furthermore, all natural foods that provide good
exercise for the teeth through the necessity for mastication are
valuable on this account for strengthening the teeth, as I have
already said.
Dentistry is one of our most useful professions. But there would be need
for few dentists if the suggestions given in this chapter were closely
followed by men, women and children the whole country over. One may have
strong teeth in practically every instance, as a result of proper care
and suitable diet, just as he may have strong muscles, strong organs and
strong nerves.