DECAY OF TEETH

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 70, 20 September 1937, Page 12

DECAY OF TEETH

EMOTIONAL CAUSES

Nagging, worry, and the modem ways of living may cause teeth to decay, Dr. I. L. McGonigle, of Freehold, N.J., told the American Dental Society, reports the "New York' Times." High emotions seem to upset the thyroid gland, he said, and consequently the teeth sometimes do not get the calcium needed to maintain their strength.

Children, nagged by parents, frequently develop tooth cavities, and sometimes the nervous irritability of the parents themselves is caused by lack of calcium.

"When the calcium and phosphorus ratio is out of proportion," ss»i Dr. McGonigle, "changes take place not only in the teeth, but also in the soft tissues. May not emotional conditions throw this .calcium out of balance? "We often observe that when worry, fear, and other similar conditions touch a man he is unable to • sleep well or eat well —and sometimes unable to eat at all. If he tries to do so he will become nauseated. From this we have evidence that these conditions do upset the body, and cause the body to be thrown out of balance." Dr. McGonigle cited as an example to prove his point—the case of a twenty-seven-year-old man who had "perfect teeth." Shortly afterwards the subject's wife was in serious condition for three weeks. She finally recovered and six weeks later the man complained to Dr. McGonigle about his teeth. Examination showed nine cavities. __

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