142 AMEB^ 



Endamoeba gingivalis and Disease. — As intimated above, 

 although the presence of amebse in the mouth has been known 

 for many years, these parasites attracted Uttle interest until 

 1914 when several investigators called attention to an apparent 

 relationship between the amebse and the presence of pus pockets 

 between the teeth and gums, a disease known to dentists and 

 physicians as " pyorrhea alveolaris." The amebse do not thrive 

 on exposed surfaces in the mouth, but find a congenial environ- 

 ment in any little secluded pockets between the teeth and gums, 

 in crevices between close-fitting teeth, or where a bit of food forms 

 a protected spot for them. Stowed away 

 , in such places, and invariably accompanied 



V-cn by bacteria and often spirochsetes, they 



lA.p. multiply rapidly. That they feed largely 



4\ on other organisms cannot be doubted, but 



|V\ that they prey also on the living tissue 



I. JV^r. cells is practically certain. Eventually the 



r -\ 'aw delicate peridental membrane surrounding 



I Iperidcnt *'^® '"°°*^ °^ *^® ^'^^^'^ ^^^^' *^^' correspond- 



Xperiost. ing in a general way to the periosteum of 



bones, is eaten away and becomes ulcerated. 



toJth showing peridental The eating away of the hving membranes 



membrane, which is the of the teeth and gums is accompanied by 



tissue attacked by Enda- , j r j_- r j i j 



mmba gingivalis and the a Constant formation of pus, and a marked 

 seat of pyorrhea, peri- proneness for the gums to bleed, often with- 



dent., peridental mem- , . . rr^, ii • j u 



brane; periost., perios- o^t provocation. Ihe swallowing and ab- 

 teum; or., crown; r., sorption of the pus and of the poisonous 

 Bass' and Johns.) waste products generated by the parasitic 



organisms are probably the cause of the 

 more or less noticeable constitutional symptoms which accom- 

 pany the disease. These may consist of feverishness, dis- 

 ordered digestion, nervous troubles, rheumatic pains in the 

 joints, anemia, or various combinations of these ailments. We 

 have long known that unhealthy mouths were the cause of gen- 

 eral bad health, but we never until recently had any definite clue 

 to the reason why. 



As the ulceration of the membrane continues, the tooth is 

 gradually loosened from the gum. Just as meadow mice girdle 

 fruit trees, so these amebse, or the bacteria or spirochsetes which 

 accompany them, eat away the living " bark " of the teeth and 



