Page 212 - My FlipBook

I '- Management of the Teeth
aided by filth, which is ihe consequence of neglect of the teeth,
or in want of due attention to cleanliness.
Cure.—Cut away the disorganized parts and polish the sur-
faces of the teeth.
Prevention.—Brush the teeth daily, and keep them clean.
If the brush be not enough to effect this, a tooth powder must
be used. When the disease commences, it may at once be
stopped by cutting it away, and polishing with bits of soft
wood and polishing powder.
Remarks.—The above disease is not peculiar to the tempo-
rary teeth : it is very apt to attack the permanent teeth of
young persons, and there is nothing more destructive to them
and productive of external decay ; for as soon as the enamel
is destroyed, the bone of the teeth, exposed to the further ac-
tion of the same agents, will decay. The scurf is generally
seen thickest on the teeth near the gums, where the enamel is
thinest and soon destroyed it also occurs to persons more ad-
;
vanced in life. Let no person who values his teeth, his comfort,
his health, or regards his purse, be so foolish as to permit the
disease in question, so perfectly under his control, to destroy
his teeth, as though they were of no value, or the disease could
not be prevented, any more than " the deadly blast from the
desert air."
Tooth Apparatus.—As some kind of apparatus will, at all
times, be indispensably necessary for the good management
of the teeth, we shall mention a simple one, which ought, (or
something else in lieu of it,) to be in the possession of every
individual.
First—Tooth brushes of such forms as to be adapted to all the
surfaces of the teeth, (see page 1G3,) and they will need to vary
in size and shape in conformity to the size and circumstances
of the mouth for which they are designed.
Second—A piece of soft wood, of a convenient size and
length to hold one end in the fingers, with the other applied
to the teeth in any part of the mouth, this end being made
thin and a little beveling, and broomed a little : this is to be