By way of contrast, the former rule is given, which reads as follows : 



The person must have at least eight serviceable natural masticating teeth, 

 either bicuspids or molars, four above and four below, opposing, and six service- 

 able natural incisors or canines, three above and three below, opposing. These 

 teeth must be so opposed as to serve the purposes of incision and mastication. 

 There must be one molar above and one below on one side which occlude; the 

 remaining six opposing masticating teeth may be either bicuspids or molars. 



The practical significance of this change is indicated by the fact 

 that dental defects accounted for 8.5 per cent, of the total rejections, 

 according to the special analysis made of 10,258 rejections by the 

 Provost-Marshal General's office. Since these rejections were made 

 by camp surgeons, the proportion of rejections for dental defects by 

 Local Boards was probably much higher. It is specifically stated in 

 the new regulations that "No registrants can be rejected on account of 

 teeth defects." 



Finally, as regards the degree of deficiency for disqualification, on 

 general grounds it is said in the regulations that 



The standards for unconditional rejection which places the registrant in the 

 class physically deficient and not physically qualified for military service are 

 clearly defined. When the Local Board is in any doubt, the registrant should 

 be referred to the Medical Advisory Board. 



This Board is governed by the rule that 



If the registrant is held to be physically disqualified by the examining 

 physician, the Local Board shall, unless it decides by unanimous vote that the 

 disqualification is so obvious as to leave no room for reasonable doubt, send 

 the registrant before such Medical Advisory Board in the manner just provided. 



This shows, in other words, "that there must be a unanimous vote 

 of the Local Board to disqualify the registrant and the disqualifica- 

 tion must be so obvious as to leave no room for reasonable doubt." 



Even as regards temporary defects, it is now provided that 



Registrants confined to their homes, or hospitals, or who present themselves 

 with some temporary defect the result of an acute disease, injury, or operation, 

 or who are waiting for operation, should be granted a reasonable delay for 

 completing the physical examination. All of these cases should be thoroughly 

 investigated by the physician on the Local Board. 



The foregoing extracts from the new official regulations make it 

 sufficiently clear that under the present procedure on the part of the 

 Local Board and the Medical Advisory Board a much larger propor- 

 tion of registrants will be accepted for military service than in the 

 past, and that in so far as minor ailments or physical defects or defi- 

 ciencies are ascertained by the examination, they will be remedied, if 

 possible, or the registrant will be placed in a class of service where 

 the defect or deficiency can not prove injurious to health or life. 

 Under the new regulations, therefore, the examinations will disclose a 

 much lesser degree of apparent physical deterioration among men of 



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