DISEASES OF TEETH

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 123, 23 April 1940, Page 3

DISEASES OF TEETH

DANGERS FROM INFECTION. ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB. Diseases affecting teetii and the dangers which might arise from them were described by Mr AY. B. Tennent in an address to the Palnuvston North Rotary Club yesterday. Mr Tennent said lie wished to speak of some of the problems which confronted dentists and particularly the difficulty of persuading people that they were suffering harm from their teeth though they were not suffering pain. He dealt with the danger of pyorrhea and infected teeth. To understand the danger of pyorrhea it was necessary to give detai's of tiie structure- of tiie tooth. This consisted of an enamel outside layer, tiie dentine and the pulp. The latter contained the artery and the vein, and also the nerve, which was quite a long way from tiie edge of the tooth. The pulp and the peridental membrane were the portions affected in pyorrhea. These parts supplied tiie nourishment to tiie various parts of tho teeth. Jn pyorrhea the infection could travel Jialf-wav down the tooth before the tooth became dead. The disease could be caused by several things, iu- j eluding a breakdown oi : the metalml- : ism of tiie body and an upset in tho internal glands of secretion. A very common cause was an upset to the gum tissue by an external agency, such as tiie wrong use of a toothbrush. This might occur when a very hard toothbrush was used in Hie wrong way. The speaker outlined the course of the disease, saying that it was progressive—it never became better if left alone. In tho final stage the teeth were quite loose and ready to come out. Danger was caused when the front bone was taken away, exposing the tooth to infection, which spread to other parts of the body. The treatment of a dead tooth was one of the most difficult problems which confronted the dentist. The successful filling of teeth was a discovery of comparatively recent origin. •Dentists found that a. great portion j of dead teeth became badly infected! and produced disastrous results later, j Dead teeth could now be successfully treated and could give service ior a great many years, hut in all eases dentists regarded them with suspicion. Mr Tennent described the spread of infection from diseased teeth and the distance which infection might travel from abscesses. The greatest aid to a diagnosis of the extent ol inicction was the X-ray. it might be asked in what dangci persons were from their teeth if their liealth was sound. There was always it danger when something happened to upset internal conditions. Bacteria from the teeth, when transported to other parts of the body, could cause quite different results Horn what they did in the mouth. A common complaint, was joint infection, in which bacteria settled in tissue similar to that irotu which they came. Other troubles could ! lie caused. Streptococci from an infected tooth might got into the lung and cause pneumonia. Valvular infection of the heart and gastric ulcers might also lie caused in this manner. Mr Tennent also spoke briefly of making dentures, describing the problems which arose in endeavouring to fit. them into the action of the jaw. He described the theory now followed on the relation between the shape of the face and of the teeth. This was that the shape of the central tooth, inverted, would give the shape of tho face, and this was true in 99 per cent, of cases. A great difference could be made by the wrong setting of teeth and the correct setting was one of the greatest- difficulties facing the dentist in making a denture. The chairman (Mr *J. A. Grant) presided at the luncheon and on his motion Mr Tennent was accorded a vote of thanks.