Care of the Teeth

They have said: "Health is a book, and its title is the teeth." There is no one who would not want his health to be excellent; he must therefore attend to his teeth, and help those who need him with what he knows.

Modern science proves that cleanliness is an impor-tant factor in keeping the teeth sound and preventing their decay. If they are neglected, decay attacks and ruins them; and when a tooth is diseased, a person cannot chew his food well, so indigestion befalls him, or the poison the tooth secretes passes through the arteries to the organs of the body, and the disease spreads to the sound teeth and destroys them.

Milk teeth: or the temporary teeth. They number twenty — ten in the upper jaw and ten in the lower — and these are replaced by the permanent teeth, which number thirty in the two jaws.

When a child is born, these teeth are covered by the gums (the "nayra") until they appear at the proper time; in the normal child their appearance is complete between the ages of two and two and a half years. The child begins "shedding" his milk teeth between his sixth and seventh year, while the molars remain until he reaches nine, or twelve.

Parents believe that since the milk teeth are passing there is no need to care for them, but this runs counter to the truth: the harm that befalls the child is greater than some imagine. Beyond this there is the effect these teeth have on the others, causing them to grow crooked; this happens when a child loses one of his teeth before its time, and the neighboring tooth takes its place, preventing the new tooth from growing in its rightful spot.

The permanent teeth: when the child reaches his sixth year, certain molars begin to appear. (These are not the milk molars. Many parents neglect them, so they decay and are lost early, and sometimes they cause a change in the shape of the jaw.) Between six and seven the incisors begin to fall out as their roots give way, and they are replaced by permanent teeth.

The color of the teeth: the color of the teeth varies with the color of a person's complexion. If the person is dark, the teeth appear white; but set against the teeth of a fair person they may look darker. The natural color of teeth is not white, but a blend of

ivory, yellow, blue, and rose. You may wonder at this, but it is the very truth, for the dentist matches the color of a tooth before replacing it. If a fatty film coats the teeth it deepens their darkness, and the dentist can remove it by cleaning, so that the natural freshness returns to the teeth.

What causes decay in the teeth? In ages past the true cause was never made clear, and though some obscurity remains, it has been shown that the beginning is on the surface of the tooth, which is affected by acids and by the remains of starchy foods and sweets that destroy the ivory layer. There is a film that forms over the teeth, or crevices in which scraps of food lodge and help to destroy them.

We must therefore urge children to constant care of their teeth. Nature, however, has furnished the mouth with "saliva," which protects the teeth by washing acids and remnants from their outer coating. Foods have an important effect on the teeth and gums: the vitamins, vegetables, and mineral matter in foods, along with milk, strengthen the teeth, while starches and sweets act upon them. The brush is of the greatest importance in the life of the teeth; it protects them and lengthens their life, provided you keep up its use. A test was carried out on hundreds of persons, and it became clear that the teeth are sound in the one who keeps them constantly clean with a stiff brush and paste, unlike the one who neglects them. Yet this does not remove decay once it has begun; it may not hurt in its first stages, but a person feels it when he takes cold or hot drinks, or certain salty foods and sweets. Hastening to

treat decay is therefore a duty, lest it spread to the healthy teeth.