AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



83 



kept clean. This can ordinarily be accomplished by the use 

 of a soft tooth brush and pure water thoroughly applied at 

 least once in the twenty-four hours. A tooth-powder of an 

 alkaline character, or, what is the same thing, clean toilet 

 soap, can be occasionally used with benefit. A tooth pick 

 should be possessed and used by every gentleman and lady 

 too, though it should be made of wood, ivory, tortoise-shell, 

 bone, quill, or some substance softer than the tooth itself. If 

 the teeth are very closely set together, frequently drawing a 

 thread between them will aid in preventing decay. If any of 

 them have begun to decay, a good dentist should be consulted 

 as soon as possible, and the cavities filled with gold, since ar- 

 tificial teeth can never be so valuable as natural ones, even 

 though partly filled with gold. When teeth are past filling 

 they should be removed, as they are the means of producing 

 decay in others, as well as many pains called neuralgia. 



184. — 5. The Teeth not to be Used on very Hard Sub- 

 stances. — The teeth should be used only for the purposes for 

 which they were designed. The teeth of squirrels, rats, and 

 beavers were made expressly for cutting wood and gnawing 

 open nuts, but not so with the human teeth. Even the con- 

 stant biting of thread, the holding of a pencil or tobacco-pipe 

 between the teeth, and especially the cracking of nuts, are 

 practices very injurious, and often cause the decay of these 

 organs. 



185. — 6. Teeth Generally Decay Early in Life— Ex- 

 perience shows that teeth decay the most rapidly in the early 

 part of life, generally between the ages of fifteen and 

 thirty. Hence youth need to take especial care to preserve 

 them, not only on account of the pain and deformity which 

 their loss occasions, but because of their remote effects upon 

 the voice and especially upon the digestive organs. 



What kind of tooth powder is the best ? Who should use tooth picks ? What treat- 

 ment should be given to decaying and decayed teeth? What substance alone should 

 teeth be filled with ? 184. For what purposes should human teeth never be used? 1S5. 

 In what period of life do teeth decay the fastest? What are important reasons for an 

 especial care of the teeth ? 



