TIPS ABOUT TEETH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20514, 15 March 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

TIPS ABOUT TEETH.

(By Lady Monteith Erskine.)

Not often has it suggested that man may have something to learn from monkeys in the matter of hygiene. Yet recently I was told that certain wild tribes of Africa clean their teeth in precisely the same way as do the monkeys .which inhabit their country. After each meal they pick out grasses suitable for the purpose, and pass a blade over find between each tooth to remove any adhering matter. Incidentally, we may take it for granted that toothache among these races of man and monkey alike is as rarely to be found as in the days of Adam, our forefather. It may be that- for this happy condition other important, factors are also responsible. As a girl of fourteen I visited an eminent American dentist, who, after examining my jaw, announced solemnly that hy the time.l was thirty not a tooth would be left in my head. I implored him to suggest some means of preventing such a catastrophe. Pulling open a small drawer, he introduced me to a roll oE waxed floss silk. »■" Pas ; s a piece of this between each tooth ihe last thing at night," he told me, '' and you may yet save your teeth, possibly till you are quite old. If you do remember me with gratitude!" I have done as he told me always, and Jtvith grateful remembrance, for, though " quite old," I am not yet toothless. Another useful tip was given me by an elderly man, who, at the age of eighty, Jiad his thirty-two teeth intact. " Always wash your teeth after each meal," he said, " beginning after breakfast, before. Bear in mind that it is the gums that need the most brushing. The teeth will look after themselves!" I asked him how he managed to evade pyorrhoea. ",Quite easily." he explained; " just Tub your gums top and bottom, back and front,'with your forefinger for ten minutes both night and morning each day. Kot only is this massage a sure preventive, but frequently a positive cure." I would add that I have found this advice invaluable. There are, however, countless victims of ever-recurring dental troubles, and for these I'would urge a, regular visit, every Ihree months, to their dentist. Even for those who are more fortunate regarding the condition of their teeth, I ttould suggest the same, with the gentle reminder that " a stitch in time saves Dine."