Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1880 — The Teeth and Disease. [ARTICLE]

The Teeth and Disease.

A full set of teeth is necessary to proper mastication. Digestion largely depends on mastication, as mastication mixes the food with saliva—itself a digestive fluid—and thoroughly separates the particles so that the other digestive fluids—the gastric juice, the bile and the intestinal fluid—may readily act on them.

Decayed teeth till the in-breathed air with putrid particles. Bad teeth often cause boils, collections of hardened wax in the ear, ringing of the ears (tinnitus auriuni), and deafness in various degrees. A large amount of distress, both in the teeth and in the ear, is frequently occasioned by the decay of the first tooth of the permanent set—the sixth grinder (molar). So strong is the sympathetic connection between the teeth and the ears, that the condition of the former greatly affects the latter, especially in childhood the period of marked inflammatory tendency in the various glands of the mouth. Dr. Samuel Sexton has made the facts a special study, with the aid of the otoscope—the new instrument for the ex-

ploration of the ear. Of 1,500 cases examined by him, he attributes one-third to the condition of the teeth. Dr. Sexton says further that persons are injured in health by the amalgam fillings, the mercury which enters largely into them being gradually set free. Still more serious results follow when plates—especially vulcanite—are worn over diseased fangs, inflamed palates or gums, collections of tartar, and purulent secretions. In this country, where teeth begin to decay so early, children should be taught how to care for them, and the dentist should be occasionally called in to inspect them.