YOUR MOUTH AND TEETH

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 119, 4 May 1936, Page 10

YOUR MOUTH AND TEETH

Dangers of Neglect If you want to be attractive, never neglect the appearance of your mouth and teeth. Girls will often spend quite a. lot of time and money on hairdressing and yet will fail to notice stains and unpolished teeth which a little care and attention could beautify enormously. The shape of the lips, too, can be improved if oue knows how. for there is nut one woman in a thousand whose lips are really beautiful, soft, full, and satiny. One is inclined to allow the mouth to get into bad habits. Worrying thoughts and nerve strain harden its contours and make its corners turn downwards, and unless this downward tendency is corrected, a thin, unlovely mouth will be the result. Remember always that your teeth are far more in evidence than you would guess from looking in the mirror. Every time you speak or smile you show them. One is inclined to overlook this fact. Every half-year they should lie gone over by a competent dentist, and any small hole instantly filled. Also, they should be regularly scaled aud cleaned by a dentist, who, with his revolving brushes and appliances, can do it far more thoroughly than one can oneself. One’s daily care is equally important. Brush the teeth twice daily, aud keep two good brushes always in use, so that a damp one is never used. Brush from the roots, downwards, as well as across, and give the gums a thorough friction at the same time. There is no surer way of having red and healthy gums than to keep the circulation active in them by a regular friction. Common salt is splendid for rubbing on the gums, and a stimulating mouth-wash helps to keep them in perfect condition. ft is a sylendid plan, says a dental authority, to use both a paste and a powder for dental hygiene. There are so many excellent pastes on tho market, and a powder supplies the necessary friction to keep the enamel of the teeth clean and polished. I’owdcred orris, or some such fibrous root, polishes without scratching the delicate surface There are teeth and bone-building foods which everyone who wishes for mouth beauty should eat regularly. Some of these are wholemeal bread, raisins, celery, nuts, spinach, coarse cereals, milk, and butter. Regular small doses of cod-liver oil are wonderful for the teeth. Keep the lips soft by always rubbing in an oily salve. Dry winds are inclined to gie them a parched appearance, and the modern, highly-coloured lipstick often dries the lips as well. This cannot be avoided, since indelible lipsticks are in such general use at present, but a tiny pot of softening salve should be in every girl’s handbag, and be rubbed in occasionally during the day. If you want to preserve your teeth, on no account eat sweet things immediately before going to sleep. Sugar causes an acid condition of the mouth, which induces decay. Lemon water, on the other hand is splendid to take the last thing at night, especially if it is drunk without any sugar at all. When massaging your face, do not forget your lips, for massage will do much to keep them young and lovely. With the fingers covered in skin food, pat them briskly for a few minutes. Also, with the forefinger of each hand, rub them from the corners to the middle, keeping thet mouth slightly pouted while you do it. Lipstick should be chosen so as to enhance the beauty of the l lips, and not simply to smear them with an artificial colour. A rather natural tone in the daytime is best, for darker and more intense shades have a way, sometimes, of robbing the mouth of'its own characteristic charm.