526 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



April, 1914 



Home ]Votes. 



Children's Teeth. 



" In the first place," said one of 

 the leading^ dentists, " mothers 

 should know the time at which 

 their children's teeth should ap- 

 pear. They begin to show at 

 about six and a half months, and 

 the set of temporary or milk 

 teeth is completed about the 

 second vear, though boys as a rule 

 are rather more backward than 

 girls. Even before the teeth ap- 

 pear, however, mothers should con- 

 sider them, for the development of 

 the teeth has begun before birth. 

 For this reason babies should be 

 given lime water at times, and as 

 soon as anv starchy foods are add- 

 ed to the diet it should be brown 

 bread rather than white, as it is 

 so much richer in earthy phos- 

 phates, which are essential for the 



MY MOTHER HAS THE TFTMOST 

 FAITH IN CLEMENTS TONIC. 

 (Adelaide Series. No. 10). 



Mr. A. Ewens, who writes this letter, 

 keeps the principal booth store at Ham- 

 ley Bridge, South Australia. Anyone 

 can verify this letter. It is worth 

 reading by anyone who is run down in 

 health and who desires to get well. 



" Light Street, 

 Hamley Bridge, S.A., 18/10/'12. 

 " CLEMENTS TONIC, LTD. 



" For quite a number of years your 

 medicine has been used by our family, 

 and T cannot speak too hlt^'hly of it. 

 MY MOTHER HAS THE UTMOST 

 FATTH IN CT.EATENTS TONIC, for it 

 has donp for hr>r much crood whenever 

 she required a tonic medicine. Twelve 

 months niro my system was out of 

 order. and would In all probability 

 have soon Inlrl me np, only that I 

 knew the value of your ereat medicine. 

 Several tiottles of It soon benefited me. 

 I find there 1<! NOTHINO LIKE KEEPING 

 A BOTTLE OF CLEMENTS TONIC In 

 THE HOrSE. I FEET, THAT T AM 

 SO^rEWHAT SAFEGTTATtDED AGAINST 

 TLI^HEALTH. 



(Signed) MR. A. EWENS." 



CLEMENTS TONIC has been proved 

 most effective In cases of Constipation, 

 Beblllty, lyassltude. Flatulence, Nervous- 

 ness, Weakness, Poor Appetite, Indi- 

 gestion. Depression of Spirits, Melan- 

 cholia, Brain Fag, or Brain Exhaus- 

 tion. In cases of Brain Fag, Mental 

 WearlnoM, Loss of sleep, or Broken 

 Best, it is Invaluable. Try H. Al- 

 ways keep It— as it Is only another 

 name for sound health. AI-L CHEM- 

 ISTS AND STORES SELL IT EVERY- 

 WHERE.— Advt. 



proper making of sound teeth, 

 and is also beneficial because it 

 helps in the making of good 

 strong bones. Bananas, too, are 

 among the best fruits for children 

 during the time thev are develop- 

 in? their teeth, for that fruit con- 

 tains nearly everythin<r which is 

 necessary for the development of 

 the body. 



" At about six and a half years 

 old the first permanent tooth is 

 got. Most people are under the 

 impression that this is one of the 

 lower central teeth, but it is a 

 popular error, for the fir^t of the 

 permanent set is one in the jaw 

 bone. It is at this time especially 

 that proper attention should be 

 given to the teeth, for if the tem- 

 porary ones are not shed at the 

 right time the services of a tho- 

 roughly competent dentist should 

 be called in, otherwise the reten- 

 tion of the temporary teeth be- 

 yond the proper time may mean 

 irrerriilaritv in the arrangement of 

 the permanent set. 



"All, durine the time of the erup- 

 tion of the first teeth, and subse- 

 quently, children should be taken 

 to a ?ood dentist to find out if 

 any of their teeth are decaying. 

 The importance of this will become 

 evident from the fact, which is by 

 no means well-known, that immedi^ 

 atelv under the first set of teeth 

 the Dermanent teeth are being de- 

 veloped. If decay sets in' in one of 

 the first teeth, it often goes so far 

 as to perforate the tooth and in- 

 jure or decay the youn? enamel of 

 the '-^rniqnent tooth which is im- 

 mediately under it. Bad as this 

 is it does not end here, for the 

 deeply may spread to the teeth on 

 each jeide of the decaying tooth, 

 and thus a sinrrle neorlected first 

 tooth may cause injury to three 

 permanent teeth. 



Decay should, therefore, be ar- 

 rested as soon as it is found out, 

 so that it may not contaminate 

 the Dermanent teeth, and it is al- 

 most more necessary, were that 

 possible, to stop children's tempor- 

 ary teeth than the nermanent ones 

 of adults, otherwise it becomes) 

 more difficult to cure them, and 

 delay is as stupid as it would be 

 to allow a disease to run to a cer- 

 tain extent before any attempt 

 were made to cure it. 



" Sometimes it is necessary to 

 ext'"""^ " *-~.i->r,rnrv tooth in order 

 to allow a permanent one to get 



into its proper place. This at first 

 nnears a very simple state- 

 ment, but it is nevertheless one 

 which demands a good deal of 

 skill and not a little thought on 

 the part of the dentist, for there 

 is no general law to be laid down, 

 and each case must be considered 

 on its own particular merits. It is 

 certainly highly necessary that the 

 temporary teeth should not be 

 taken out until the right moment, 

 and the common practice of mo- 

 thers to extract their babies' teeth 

 by tying a piece of string or cot- 

 ton round them and pulling them 

 out is most severely to be con- 

 demned, not only because of the 

 unscientific and needlessly violent 

 mode of procedure, but because it, 

 may afterwards cause crowding of 

 the permanent set, and be the 

 means of gi^•in<r a great deal of 

 discomfort and even pain to the 

 child . Great ' cleanliness in regard to 

 the mouth is, I need hardly say, im- 

 perative for the preservation of 

 the teeth. In very young children 

 this may be sufficiently obtained 

 by means of a handkerchief stretch- 

 ed over the finger, but for children 

 of three or four years old a soft 

 and small tooth brush, with a lit- 

 tle powder, is absolutely neces- 

 sary. A very admirable powder 

 for this purpose can be made 

 quite cheaply by taking equal 

 parts of powdered orris root and 

 prepared chalk, rubbing them to- 

 gether so that they are thoroughly 

 mixed, and adding a small quanti- 

 ty of bi-carbonate of soda and a 

 drop or two of scent. It is often 

 difficult to get children to stand 

 still while their teeth are cleaned 

 in the proper way, for, as a mat- 

 ter of fact, the brush should be 

 used from' above down rather than 

 from side to side. This is not so 

 important for the first teeth, but 

 it is vitally necessary for the care 

 of the permanent ones, for the 

 constant friction of the brush may 

 cut through the enamel where the 

 teeth and the gum meet and be 

 the cause of more or less mischief. 

 It is well, therefore, that children 

 should be taught the right way 

 as early as possible, especially as 

 by this method the spaces between 

 the teeth are far more thoroughly 

 cleansed than they would be by 

 brushing from side to side. 



" The permanent teeth, which 

 begin to come at about six years 

 old, go on practically without 

 stopping until the age of thirteen 

 by which time the child should 

 have all his teeth, with the ex- 

 ception of the wisdom teeth. These 

 do not come, as a rule, until be- 

 tween the ages of seventeen and 

 twenty-five, although they are often 



