STT!DCTTTRT5, DECAY, AND PRESKBVATFON OP THE TEETH. 289 



defects are present, the effect of all acute diseases, the 

 accidents and diseases which influence the acidity of the 

 buccal mucus, — dyspepsia and vomiting, for instance, — and 

 dofcctivo nutrition of all kinds {e.g. anffimia, phthisis, dia- 

 betes) must be to favour the disintegrating action of the 

 chemical and parasitic forces ; where, however, the start in 

 life has been bad, perfection in structure is ijupossible, and 

 those influences will be still more harmful. The effect of 

 the mechanical action of accumulation of tartar, the action 

 of heated fluids and iced water, and inattention to dental 

 cleanliness, are obviously potent for harm. The measures 

 necessary to insure preservation of the teeth were classified 

 as preventive and curative. Poorness of dental organiza- 

 tion could only bo remedied by pre-natal advice, and treat- 

 ment calculated to insure a vigorous maternal system. The 

 creation of people in accordance with the known axioms of 

 physiology, — in fact scientific human breeding, — is as yet a 

 dream of the future. Improved education will remedy 

 much of the bad feeding and bad hjrgienic surroundings 

 which deteriorate the health of early infancy, and lay the 

 foundations of future caries. Local treatment may bo 

 summed up as absolute cleanliness ; abolish fermentation 

 from the mouth by chemical, mechanical, and antiseptic 

 agencies. Antiseptics and antacids, with the aid of the 

 tooth-brush, will do much to prevent what the dentist aims 

 at stopping by processes which exclude air, fluids, food, and 

 fungous growth. 



