Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1901 — CHINESE DENTISTRY. [ARTICLE]

CHINESE DENTISTRY.

Profession in Which the Celestials Have Not Mads Much Progress. If the Chinese can boast that nothing is new to them, and that all the arts and sciences are old stories in the Celestial Kingdom, it is still true that for operations in dentistry an American or European would hardly care to go to a Chinaman. In spite of their boasts, the Chinese have not been slow in recognizing the superiority of American dentistry, although there are some who adhere strictly to ancient methods, and the New York Evening Post avers that every year one or two Chinese dentists of the old school come to New York, and remain until their customers have had tbeir teeth “put In order.” The work Is ludicrously primitive. The operator extracts all teeth with his fingers, and it must be admitted that his success Is astonishing. His dexterity is due to years of practice. From youth to manhood he is trained to pull pegs from a wooden board. This training- changes the aspect of the hand, and gives the student a finger grip amazing In its strength, equivalent in fact to a lifting power of three or four hundred pounds. For toothache he employs opium, peppermint oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil. Sometimes he fills teeth, but he does it so bunglingly that the fillings stay in only a few months. An element of superstition runs through all the work. According to the system, all dental woes are brought on by tooth worms. The nerve pulp is such a worm, and is always shown to the patient For humbugging purposes, also, the dentist carries about In his pocket some white grubs, and after he has extracted a tooth he shows a grub to the sufferer as the cause of all the trouble. The position of the dentist of this class is not very lofty among his countrymen, and he is regarded as half-way in social importance between a barber and a laborer, which is certainly a great injustice to an honest laborer.