COHEN] DEXTAL HYGIEXE 119 



on either side, appears about the sixth year. This tooth is 

 often mistakenly pulled out under the impression that it is a 

 milk tooth. If this is done the child has to get along without 

 this important tooth for the rest of its lifetime. Extraction of 

 this tooth also results in faulty development of the jaw. 



If the child is the starting point in this work of regeneration, 

 the school is the central point. Considering the fact that only 

 ten per cent of the population of the United States are in the 

 habit of visiting the dentist, it is not safe to rely upon the initi- 

 ative of the parents to look after the welfare of the children's 

 teeth. The school offers a peculiarly favorable vantage point 

 both for the correction of the immediate faulty dental condi- 

 tions found in the children as well as for carrying on the pro- 

 paganda in favor of dental hygiene, and laying a solid foundation 

 for widespread future dental prophylaxis. Here we have the 

 next generation in the formative stage — the disease tendencies 

 perhaps not yet widespread and strongly rooted. Where such 

 tendencies exist they can be eliminated by early and prompt 

 attention. Here also the child feels freer from the narrow and 

 cramping forces and superstitions of many homes. Under the 

 influence of teacher and principal, in the presence of its fellows, 

 it grows more self-reliant, more sensitive to its bodily imper- 

 fections and trustingly follows the guiding hand that would stop 

 a pain, preserve a tooth and give it added vigor of bodv and 

 mind. Here above any other place the lesson of cleanliness can 

 be thoroughly grounded into the consciousness and practice of 

 the child. In Cambridge. Scotland, they have organized tooth 

 brush clubs and tooth brush drills. Economic considerations also 

 point to the school as the most favorable center for the activities 

 in behalf of the preservation of the teeth. The children are ag- 

 gregated in large numbers and the work can be done cheaply, 

 without delay and without loss of time. The work at the school 

 should include periodic inspection of the children's teeth and 

 daily tooth brush drills. Each school should also have a properly 

 titten out dental clinic where temporary and permanent fillings 

 and necessary extraction can be done. 



The real battle-ground, however, is the home. Unless the 

 co-operation of the home is secured the good start made at the 

 school will not prove availing. The heartv support of the par- 

 ents is needed in order to make the children do at home what 

 they were taught to do at school. The consent of the parents 

 is also needed before any necessary operative procedures can be 

 employed. Here, as in all large health problems, the basis is 



