Page 104 - My FlipBook
P. 104
:
84 Diseases of the Teeth.
That climate has a great effect, in inducing caries of the
teeth, is made probable by the following circumstances :
First—Europeans have better teeth than Americans.
Second—The teeth of Europeans who have resided in this
country for a few years, are as subject to decay as our own.
We have often beard patients declare, that their teeth were
not in the least decayed, till they came to America, and en-
quire the reasons why they are so much more subject to decay
in this country, than in England. That the teeth are very
liable to decay in this country, is known and dreaded by every
foreigner, who takes up his above among us.
Third—A very powerful circumstance, showing the effect
of climate, and thu origin of internal caries to be inflammation
is the following
Negroes are said to have much better teeth than white peo-
ple, which Dr. Fitch ingeniously attributes to the peculiar
conformation and rotundity of their jaws, which are very fa-
vorable to the perfect developement of the teeth. There are
a few residing at Montreal, and it is remarkable, that they
have much worse teeth than the Canadians. Of the truth of
this, abundant observation has convinced us; several, not
thirty years of age, are almost edentiless.
The Canadian habitant is hardy, frugal, and accustomed to
his climate. He will sally out of his snug dwelling, which
he keeps at a temperature of seventy-five or eighty degrees of
Fahrenheit, into an atmosphere of twenty or twenty-five be-
low zero, with comparative impunity ; while the piercing
frost, chills the very vitals of the negro, bred in a warmer and
more congenial clime. Jf climate has such an effect in induc-
ing caries of teeth, we ask, throwing all other arguments
aside, if it is not a conclusive proof, that the teeth are suscep-
tible of inflammation, and that inflammation must be the
proximate cause of caries ? If caries be always produced by
external or chemical agents, it is evident that the teeth should
not be more liable to decay in one country, than in another.
84 Diseases of the Teeth.
That climate has a great effect, in inducing caries of the
teeth, is made probable by the following circumstances :
First—Europeans have better teeth than Americans.
Second—The teeth of Europeans who have resided in this
country for a few years, are as subject to decay as our own.
We have often beard patients declare, that their teeth were
not in the least decayed, till they came to America, and en-
quire the reasons why they are so much more subject to decay
in this country, than in England. That the teeth are very
liable to decay in this country, is known and dreaded by every
foreigner, who takes up his above among us.
Third—A very powerful circumstance, showing the effect
of climate, and thu origin of internal caries to be inflammation
is the following
Negroes are said to have much better teeth than white peo-
ple, which Dr. Fitch ingeniously attributes to the peculiar
conformation and rotundity of their jaws, which are very fa-
vorable to the perfect developement of the teeth. There are
a few residing at Montreal, and it is remarkable, that they
have much worse teeth than the Canadians. Of the truth of
this, abundant observation has convinced us; several, not
thirty years of age, are almost edentiless.
The Canadian habitant is hardy, frugal, and accustomed to
his climate. He will sally out of his snug dwelling, which
he keeps at a temperature of seventy-five or eighty degrees of
Fahrenheit, into an atmosphere of twenty or twenty-five be-
low zero, with comparative impunity ; while the piercing
frost, chills the very vitals of the negro, bred in a warmer and
more congenial clime. Jf climate has such an effect in induc-
ing caries of teeth, we ask, throwing all other arguments
aside, if it is not a conclusive proof, that the teeth are suscep-
tible of inflammation, and that inflammation must be the
proximate cause of caries ? If caries be always produced by
external or chemical agents, it is evident that the teeth should
not be more liable to decay in one country, than in another.
