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Copyright, ltlS, by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
New Things
to SAVE
Your TEETH
and Cure
Sore Gums
A RECENT dental clinic in New York City showed
a number of wonderful new advances in den
tistry, bu. most of all it proved bow little the
average man knows about the work done to his teeth.
For instance, how many patients are aware that
half the hard cement fillings, known as “porcelain
cements" or artificial enamels, are spoiled by heating
•when the dentist trims them into shape with his little
whirling disk? If the dentist greases his disk with
cocoa butter or some other lubricant, no heating and
no harm results. Heat causes the filling to expand in
the cavity and later, in contracting, to pull away from
the tooth and leave space for saliva and decay to enter.
As everyone knows, ether, chloroform, laughing gas
<tnd other narcotics will make a patient insensible and
this condition is known as “anaesthesia.” But few
people have heard of a condition known as “analgesia.”
Analgesia is a way station on the road to anaesthesia,
where the patient is conscious, can hear, see and talk,
but cannot feel pain. "At the clinic were two new de
vices for producing analgesia.
A Real “Painless Dentistry” and a Remedy at Last for Pyorrhea and Loose Teeth
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Both work by means of a little mask which fits over
the nose, but leaves the mouth free for the dentist’s
work, and for the patient to breathe air whenever he
sees fit.
One machine supplies a mixture of nitrous-oxide
< laughing gas) and oxygen, while the other causes
analgesia through a secret compound gas known as
“somnoform." As soon as the usually painful part, the
actual cutting, is done, the little nose mask is removed.
While the dentist inserts the filling, shapes and polishes
It, the patient rids himself of the last fumes of the
analgesic and ateps out of the chair feeling just as
be did when he got in. There is no dizziness or nausea.
This is real, painless dentistry and anyone whose teeth
are sensitive enough to make it worth while would
do well to hunt up an "analgesic” dentist.
The drug stores are full of tooth powders and pastes,
good and bad, for cleaning the teeth, but now comes
not a cleanser, but a polisher for the teeth. , It Is a
little white powder called "Carmi-Lustro," and must be
applied to the teeth dry. First the teeth are given a
quick rub with a bit of cotton roll or a .handkerchief.
This is followed by a dry rub with a pinch of the powder
on a lining cloth or cotton roll. The polish, which
comes immediately, is intended not only for appearance,
but to prevent decay. Thin strips of tough paper are
used to polish between the teeth. If the teeth are kept
perfectly polished it is impossible for them to decay.
Though it is either your own fault or your dentist’s,
or both, if ypu ever wear them, false teeth in then-
new improvements are very interesting. They are now
made bo one can chew with a grinding motion, as is
natural, instead of the straight up and down chop which
lias always betrayed the owner of false teeth.
A startling but successful feat of dental surgery
is implanting individual false teeth in the mouth on
metal roots. The metal is iridio-platinum in the form
of a latticed cylinder. A hole is first cut in the jaw
bone. Into this hole the cylinder is
forced. In a few weeks a bony growth
forms, connecting the metal cylinder
with the Jaw-bone and holding it firm
ly. The false tooth is then conn<*ted
to the end of the metal cylinder.
How You Breathe the New Analgesia
and Feel No Pain, Although You Know
What I> Going on All the Time.
The moat important of all the exhibits was prob
ably the Dunlop treatment for “recession of the gums.”
This common and hitherto incurable affliction is one of
the manifestations of a disease called “Pyorrhe* or
“Rlgg’s Disease.” It begins with a simple inflamma
tlon of the gums around some one tooth. Its progress
Is very slow and insidious. Spreading from one tooth
to another It also travels inward between the tooth and
the gum and gradually but steadily progresses to the
jaw bone Itself.
There is never any great pain, at least at the start,
and the inflammation and tiny drops of pus which ooze
out from the gum pass almost unnoticed.
Finally there comes a time when one or two teeth
become isoae and can be moved about with the fingers.
This is enough to alarm most anyone and the dentist’s
attention is pretty sure to be called.
These cases are noi welcome to the dentist because
he has always known there was ao satisfactory remedy
for the condition. One attempt at a cure is called “scal
ing.” It consists in reaching up with an instrument
between the gum and the tooth and scraping the root.
This torture results in temporary stopping of the pus
formation, but the gums and the teeth are tender for
months afterward and then back comes the disease.
The custom has been to scrape a second and a third
time and so on until finally the jaw itself is reached.
At this point the tooth is either removed or becomes
rigidly fixed in the jaw. This condition brings on in
curable neuralgia.
How little dentists are able to do with the old
methods was proved by the number who offered them
selves as subjects at the clinic for demonstration of
the new treatment. This consists in applying a fine
gentle spray to the gums right where they meet the
tooth. The vital principle of the spray is oxygen.
It has been agreed in the medical profession that
if oxygen could be introduced into the circulation of
the bipod locally, it would clean up most any sort of
chronic inflammation. Professor Jacques Loeb, of the
Rockefeller Institute, one of the greatest biological
authorities, has proved that life is a process of burn
ing—that is of applying »oxygen to substances with
which It will unite. Death is the stoppage of this burn
ing. The faster we burn the more intense is the vital
process and the slower we burn the nearer we come to
death.
The body may he full of life generally and yet
be burning very sluggishly in some one little back eddy
of the system. This is the case in Pyorrhea or inflam
mation of the gums. The tiny blood vessels are dis
tended. flabby and weak. They are overburdened with
pus and the blood stream is so slow and clogged, that
the whole neighborhood is starved of oxygen.
Though it has been clear enough that oxygen was
the one thing needed to burn up the rubbish and free
the clogged blood stream, there has never been any
way of introducing this vital gas. Oxygen has been
applied in various manners, but the trouble has always
been that this gas has unfortunately burned up healthy
and unhealthy tissues alike. It was like burning your
house to get rid of the rats.
The new Dunlop method applies oxygen in a form
that has a special liking for diseased tissue. The tiny
spray is not forced up into the gums, it goes there of
its own accord searching out pus and diseased matter,
burrowing and pursuing its way even back into the
roof of the mouth when the disease extends that far.
The seat of Pyorrhea is not at the edge of the gums
where It first appears, but down deep at the head of
certain glands which are connected by tubes with
the surface.
No instrument can search these tubes and no medi
cine can be forced into them. The new oxygen com
pound works its way up of its own accord if disease is
there. If not, it stays out. When a mouth has been
cured of the disease the spray refuses to enter the tis
sue any longer.
The Reason We STAND ON ONE LEG to Rest
W ATCH the people waiting for a subway train or
for a street car at the end of a day’s worjt^
How many of them are standing on one leg?
All? Well, nearly all. Yet, when you come to think of
it. It is queer that it should be more restful to put your
whole weight on one leg until It Is tired, then on the
other, and so forth, moving backward and forward
constantly, instead of supporting the weight evenly all
the time on two feet, which would then, one would im
agine, not grow as tired. Yet that this one-leg plan is
a true and wise plan for securing a rest is made clear by
the fact that in all the armies of the world “stand at
ease” is a position in which all the weight is put on
the one foot, and the knee of the other leg is flexed.
The whole matter depends on the fact that man Is not.
yet sufficiently accustomed to the upright position. As
a relief from standing upright he will lean against a
pillar or lamp-post, and if It is possible to find a projec
tion slightly above the level of the ground he will put
iiis foot on It. Witness the "deadly fourth rail” of the
bar-room, which is placed here for that purpose and
Use WATER to
Cure Nervousness
D r. HARVEY BOUGHTON, the English nerve spe
cialist, recently said, in an address, that all
neurasthenics, that is, people with unhealthy
nerves, have nothing more than nerves that are dry,
and suffer from an insufficiency of fluid in the tissues
of the body, which really go to make up the body's
lubrication. Moat people, he says, probably suffer in a
degree fro this, even though they are not conscious
of any definite symptoms. He believes this disease
could easily be eradicated if people would only supply
their systems with plenty of good, clear, cold water.
The human body is so adjusted that one part cannot
suffer without all other parts suffering. If by neglect
our nerves are dried up through lack of fluid, then it
is a certainty that the wheels of our intricate body
machinery are being clogged by reason of waste mat
ter hicb is not washed away.
It can be readily seen that by the use of water a
threefold service is done. It feeds, it washes, and it
carries away the cinders of the body furnace, and
through the want of it we are exposed to many and
great dangers. The tissues become too dry, the blood
becomes thick, unhealthy and flows sluggishly, and the
retained waste of the body sets up a condition which
the doctors call “autointoxication,” or self-poisoning.
This condition may give rise to almost any known
symptoms, from the simple pipiple to heart failure, and
is really responsible for most of the semi-invalids with
whom the world is largely peopled.
Dr. Boughton then gave certain rules which he said
would tend to make for a healthy' set of nerves and a
healthier and happier body. He observed that people
do not all need the same amount of water, and it may
take a little experimenting to find out just how much
should be taken in each case. It has been stated by
physicians that five or six pints should be taken dur
ing the twenty-four hours. Of this, he said, only a mod
erate quantity should be taken with the meals, but It
was a great mistake to take no water with the meals,
but that it was a greater mistake to wash food down
with water, and especially with Ice water.
Dr. Boughton said the best time for water drinking
is at night time and early in the morning, and itris well
to form the habit of slowly sipping, during the bath
and while dressing, two or three glasses of cold—
though not ice-cold—water, and then to sip two or
three more glasses at bedtime, and again two or three
more glasses an hour or two before luncheon and be
fore dinner.
Then the doctor assured his audience that in a very
jihort time the value of this habit would become ap
parent in the general improvement in digestion, temper
Ind appearance.
that purpose only, because men will stay longer at the
bar (and consequently buy more drinks’ if they can put
their feet in such a position that one of them gives the
idea of a hand holding on to something. And if our
feet were bare, instead of booted, they would curl around
that brass rail in just the same way that our hands
close instinctively on anything they touch.
Because man as yet cannot stand upright without dif
ficulty, the muscles have a greater piece of work to do
than they can bear. The erect position is only main
tained by a very complicated cross-strain, one set of
muscles pulling forward and the other backward, and
every movement we make causes a new adjustment.
Of course, if the hip bone (femurl fitted vertically into
the bones of the pelvic girdle, instead of at an angle,
and if that was directly under the spine, we could stand
erect without any more muscular strain than a certain
amount of balancing. But these joints work at angles,
just as does the knee, and absolutely all that keeps us
from tumbling down is the strength of the muscles that
hold these joints in position.
When we stand on one leg, however, in order to give
the muscles a chance to ease up, we naturally throw the
weight of the body to one side, and this places such
joints as the hip more directly up and down, reducing
the width of the angle, and therefore giving less trouble
to the muscles, even while the whole weight is on that
leg. In the meantime, the other leg is gtting a much-
needed rest. Then, as soon as the long-continued weight
of the whole body has tired the leg that is bearing it,
the other foot is ready to take up the strain, and we
shift the feet, throwing the body to the opposite side.
Unfortunately, unlike the storks, we cannot stand on
one leg indefinitely, and this for two reasons—that we
have more weight to carry in proportion to our muscle,
and that the muscular structure itself is more fatty and
less elastic. But it is wise to use the plan as much as
possible, and few things will help more to prevent fa
tigue than the device of standing on one foot as long as
one can, using the other merely as a balance. And, by
the way, if transportation facilities grow much worse in
crowded cities, street cars will soon be patting up signs,
“Standing Room on One Leg Only!”
The German Method of
Preventing Blindness at Birth
I T is a fact, deplorable but true, that a very
large proportion of the blindness in the
United States begins in infancy. It is
often due to some taint in the parent, but that
does not affect the result, which is easily
preventable.
It is proven that this blindness among in
fants can be easily prevented by proper treat
ment immediately after birth. If a few drops
of a solution of nitrate of silver be put into
each eye of the infant just after it is born,
blindness of this type will be prevented. The
treatment with nitrate of silver will not do
any harm to the eyes- of any infant, so it is
only an act of wise precaution to treat every
infant, without exception, with these few
drops that will act as an absolute preventive
of this awful misfortune.
in Germany and other parts of Europe it is
the law that every physician must use the so
lution of silver nitrate upon the eyes of every
child that he brings into the world—and this
under penalty of a heavy fine.
The same regulation, if put upon the sta
tute books of every one of our forty-eight
States, would prevent more than Half of the
blindness that will otherwise occur in the
years to come. If the public is aroused to
the importance of this precaution every
parent will insist upon his or her infant re
ceiving this treatment, which is far more
necessary than the first bath, and should pre
cede it.
There is nothing more pitiful than the blind
child, and if we can make it impossible by
so simple a precaution as this, why is it not
done?
Why Your Office or Store May Be the Wrong Color
I T has long been known that the store
keeper who decorates his store outside
and inside artistically and attractively
will do much more business than his next-
door competitor whose store is unattractive,
although this competitor may sell equally
good goods at equally low prices
But the psychology of color in business
has now gone much deeper, and it has re
cently been discovered that business may be
more eieiently conducted in an office that is
properly decorated than in a glaring, ugly
and unattractive office.
And this goes even further. It has been
proved that a body of directors will find it
much easier to concentrate their minds suc
cessfully upon their business in a directors’
room that is quietly, harmoniously and rest-
fully decorated than in a big barren room, a
tiny, stuffy, over-furnished room, or a room
with glaring decorations.
The clothing store man. it is now claimed,
is unwise to make his window decorations
meaning the woodwork or walls of bie show
window, permanent. For instance, if he has
it panellec in oak or cherry or some such
wood, such as well appointed offices are fin
ished in, it makes a splendid background for
the display of business suits, for it gives
them the same environment they are likely
to have when being worn by business men.
But if this storekeeper wants to display some
yachting suits or golf suits or evening suits,
his background of oak panels is not at all
suited.
' For outing suits the decorations might be
of green-stained wood, with perhaps a bit of
light blue draperies. Or for the dress suits,
white and gilt enamel would be far better
than dark wood panels. Dark wood is seldom
seen in reception rooms and theatres and
such places where evening clothese are worp.
For a director's room, mild, restful colors
are needed that are in harmony. The secret
of this is that the decorations should be of
such a nature that they do not attract the
attention of the men, but rather appear to
be as though they ‘‘belonged.’ A room done
In white and gilt with red panels, or even
with loud paper and bright pictures, gaudy
rugs and odd furniture, would certainly take
the minds of the men off their subject. Some
member might be proposing a deal, and an
other member, although he tried to listen,
would be looking at a gaudy rug patterns or
a dashing picture or involuntarily scowling
at white and gold woodwork
An instance has been quoted of where a
business man, dressed in quiet browns,
seated in his office, which was finished in
dark oak, purposely wore a bright emerald
scarf pin. Everything in the room was in
harmony, quiet and not likely to distract any
one, and this business man sitting facing his
business caller actually had an advantage
over him because his bright green scarf pin
stood out so boldly among the quiet brown
tones that it distracted the caller and gave
the wearer of the pin an advantage over him
in their business deal, which is always a
mental combat.
Rooms where large office forces work
should be decorated in a restful manner. It
will enable the employes to feel better, to do
more work and not have their minds dis
tracted.
Students in efficiency are learning more
and more that there is actually a psychology
of color in business and that it has a defin
able value.
How You VENTILATE Your LUNGS by YAWNING
W HEN any one yawns in the home a re
mark is generally made, “You are
sleepy, you had better go to bed,”
but a yawn Is by no means a sign that you
should retire, rather it means that your lungs
need ventilating and thai nature makes you
ventilate them involuntarily by means of a
good, hearty yawn.
From this it seems that the popular impres
sion that it is impolite to yawn in public is
not correct. The belief is based on the as
sumption that a person only yawns when he
or she is tired or sleepy and that the conver
sation or lack of it or dull people or environ
ment causes the tired feeling.
But this should not be held up against any
one, for to yawn does not necessarily mean
that the person is bored. It means they have
not exercised their lungs sufficiently in fresh
air, and must exercise them artificially by
means of the yawn.
With ordinary breathing the lungs are not
completely filled with air, nor are they en
tirely emptied every time you exhale during
natural respiration. This leaves a quantity
of dead air in the lungs, generally away down
Tke Line of Dashes (A) Represent the Pure Air Being
Drawn in, and the Line of Dots Shows the Foul Air (B.
Being Driven Out. Arrows at (C) Show Where Foul
Air Stays in Lungs until a Yawn Drives It out.
in the lower lobes. This is called ‘residual’'
air and after it stays there a while and be
comes foul, nature casts about for some means
to make you get rid of it. The yawn is the
thing, so nature makes you yawn. You open
your mouth to its fullest extent, throw back
your head, strain with the back muscles of
the jaw and you can then feel your lungs
move as ..they force out all the foul air and
take in fresh. In this manner are the lungs
actually ventilated.
Yawning also ventilates the air passages in
the mouth, throat and upper portion of the
chest leading to the lungs. And again, yawn
ing is really an aid to hearing.
The cracking sound which you so often
hear when giving an extra big yawn is due
to the stretching and opening of the Eus
tachian tubes. These tubes communicate be
tween the ears and the back of the throat. If
they are congested, which happens when you
have a bad cold in the head, people corn-plain
of deafness.
If you feel inclined to yawn then do-so. It
is nature’s way of cleaning out your lungs
and air passages.
Why Some Dreams
Are Really Healthy
F REUD, the great German neurologist, who has put
our dreams to a scientific test and told us the
meaning of them, declares that our customary
phrase of "Good night, and pleasant dreams” haS a
deeper significance than most of us realize. He says
that in wishing a friend pleasant dreams we are wish
ing him good health, for certain dreams are healthy.
A sleep with pleasant dreams is more beneficial,
according to Freud, than a dreamless sleep. Of course,
a sleep with bad dreams, nightmares, and the like is
by no means restful or healthful, but a night of fairly
good slumber, interspersed with a few dreams of a
decidedly pleasant nature is really restful and, being
extremely restful, is healthful.
Nearly every one, according to this authority, feels
rather dull upon awakening from a stolid, dreamless
sleep and frequently is so dull he does not feel dis
posed to perform his usual good day’s work, but to
awaken after a night in which you have experienced
pleasant dreams the nerve cells of the brain have been
pleasantly stimulated and you feel bright and active
and cheerful. Dreams that give wholesome and happy
emotions seem to leave the sleeper with fresh vigor
and an eagerness for his day’s work.
Since the reasoning faculty is inactive during sleep,
it is not to be wondered that many of our dreams are
impossible and weird. Sleep, releasing the brake on
reason, allows our sleeping mind to manipulate the
stronger thoughts that occupied our brain during the
waking hours. If, however, the thoughts or the wishes
of the dreamer, when awake, were strong enough, his
dream is quite likely to be rather sane, and if his wish
es were pleasant ones in his dream, it is natural to see
them fulfilled. It is not difficult to make a logical
reasoning from this to the effect that to have our
dearest wishes fulfilled in our dreams is really bene
ficial, for during the dreaming the effect upon the mind
and from the mind to the body, as all conditions of
the mind affect the body, is exactly the same as though
we were awake and the wish came true. It makes
us happy and to be happy is one of the greatest laws
of health.
There is no argument then against Freud’s maim
that pleasant dreams are really very beneficial for
everyone.
If you go out to spend a Dleasant evening with friends,
or attend a good play, or if you go on an outing and have
a jolly time, you are sure to feel much better for it. But
if the play you saw was bad, if the social you attended
was dull, if ypu quarrelled with the guests, or if your
outing was a failure, you feel very much worse than you
would if you had not gone out at all. And so It Is with
dreams. No dreams makes your rest rather dull, like
staying cooptd up indoors; bad dreams leave you fret
ful and feeling badly; good dreams leave you happy and
' refreshed.