Dental caries, and the prevention of dental caries : a series of papers reprinted from the Journal of the British Dental Association / by Henry Sewill.

  • Sewill, Henry.
Date:
1888
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dental caries, and the prevention of dental caries : a series of papers reprinted from the Journal of the British Dental Association / by Henry Sewill. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

    91/104 (page 87)
    of attack, and the rate of progress of the disease, as well as for its frequent intermissions. In combating this second cause of caries, the patient's general health must first be considered, recollecting that probably every lapse from a perfect standard will be accom- panied by a proportionate vitiation of the secretions of the mouth. The question of general health, whether the ail- ment be a passing indigestion or the dyscrasia of a confirmed diathesis or an attack of acute disease, is for the physician, not the dentist. We have only to call attention to the indirect influence of systemic disease upon the teeth and to devise treatment to overcome its evil effects locally. But even with perfect health and perfect dental tissues, caries may appear if organic debris be allowed to remain and de- compose in contact with the teeth. The first thing, there- fore, in every case, is to insure mechanical cleanliness by the use of tooth-brush and tooth-pick. A tooth-pick pro- perly employed I reckon important. I advise the use of those of quill or wood only, metal may scratch and break the enamel. I direct that it be used at night to clear away remains of food from between the teeth, before they receive their final brushing. Where the teeth are crowded and are of delicate structure, the use of floss silk passed between the teeth and rubbed to and fro supersedes the tooth-pick. Until lately I have been prescribing as a routine for healthy mouths a tooth powder containing two drachms of Castile soap, half an ounce of powdered orris, two drachms of borax, and two ounces of precipitated chalk. To this has been added ten drops of oil of cloves and a few of oil of lavender, or oil of geranium, or attar of roses. It is, how- ever, very rare indeed to meet an individual in whom perfect health is constant, and in whom one or other of the predis- posing causes of caries does not exist. I have, therefore,