SOLDIERS' TEETH.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 862, 14 November 1916, Page 6

SOLDIERS' TEETH.

CAMP DENTISTS' WORK. BUSY OPERATORS AND MECHANICS. [For THE SUN.] The recruits for the 23rd Reinforcement will begin to mobilise at Trentham to-day; and before these men have been in camp very long they will realise the truth of the adage that an army travels on its stomach —in the full gastronomic sense and not in the humorous one as portrayed by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather. But the old adage has been amplified of late years and now it should read, "an army travels on I its stomach and exists by the virtue jof its teeth." The teeth of the 23rd I like those of many drafts that have i preceded them will be well attendI ed to by the camp dental hospital at Trentham and, later on, at Featherston, for much of the work concerns the making and titling of dentures or sets of false teeth, and with nearly 3000 to attend to, the work takes time and moreover has to be fitted in with other phases of the men's i training. The soldier patient has this advantage over the civilian who decides that he ought to sec a dentist: the whole thing is arranged for him from the charts of each man's mouth, which are made by the examining dentists at the recruiting stations and sent to the camp when the men go in, the clerical staff at the Dental Hospital send out appointment -cards to the company commanders. These are dispatched under a covering letter signed by the camp adjutant. So the request becomes an order for the delivery of the appointment cards to the men and for their attendance at the hospital at the specified time. A corporal takes the men along and leaves them in the waiting room where the orderlies keep an eye on them. But it must be said that the men go willingly, for the Dental Hospitals have an excellent name for care and gentle treatment among the troops. In the Surgery.

While awaiting his turn, the recruit has glimpses of a busy scene in the dental quarters where 12 white-coated operators, three of whom are captains and the others lieutenants of the Xew Zealand Dental Corps, are attending to patients in chairs that arc ranged in a row along one side of the surgery. At the other side of the room, nine mechanics, a sergeant-major, and eight sergeants, work at high pressure at benches and hraziers, while white-coated orderlies move to and fro, assisting operators and mechanics. There is no noise, no fuss, and everything is conducted on business lines, of which a simple card system is the basis. When the soldier is called his chart has automatically become the top one in a drawer which is labelled for treatment that day. The operator sees at a glance what work has to be done for on the chart, every tooth in Ihe human jaw has a number. The four back teeth, in both jaws are numbered 8: the four front teeth are numbered 1; and the intervening molars and incisors take the intervening numbers in their order. If the chart is curved in the hand in the way that the jawis curved, to look at it is like looking into the patient's mouth. The order of treatment of the faults in the man's teeth is rapidly decided upon. The operator turns to his instruments and speaks to an assistant, and the soldier leans hack with most of the trepidation removed from his mind by the confidence which comes with a recognition of businesslike skill. In the next chair is a calm-look-ing soldier. At first sight he appears to be asleep. But he opens his eyes and winks at-- the newcomer. He is waiting to have an impression taken for a denture. Presently his operator returns. The patient opens his mouth wide and shows gums devoid of teeth save for two in the upper jaw near the front and a little apart from one another. A metal mould is fitted against the gums and from a bowl which an assistant holds, plaster of Paris is poured info the mould. The plaster sets quickly and when Ihe mould is withdrawn it bears a cast of the patient's gums.

Stout Dentures. The mechanic's work begins now. From Ihc fragile plaster of Paris, the casting is worked up in wax, then in rubber and afterwards the rubber is vulcanised to get the requisite toughness and hardness. Soldiers' dentures are made of unusual strength, though the weight of them scarcely exceeds that of dentures made for civilians, who live on a softer diet than soldiers have in war time. Behind the teeth the vulcanite extends well towards the biting and chewing edges, so as to minimise the risk of a broken tooth on hard army fare, and the teeth and vulcanite are of a superior quality for the same reasons. The best work only is the motto of the camp Dental Hospital, and this is accomplished under difficulties which might he expected to baulk operators who have been accustomed to gas healers and all the other conveniences which are available in towns. In the mechanical department all heat is supplied by primus stoves, the care of which is in the hands of orderlies. Hot water is boiled by the same means. Probably in no other work have primus stoves been worked so continuously, day in. day out, in providing roaring heat which consumes three cases of kerosene, at each hospital per week. The hours of work are from a quarter past eight till noon, will) a quarter-hour smoke-oh at 10.15; and from 1.30 till .") with a similar short respite. During these hours the pace is keen

and the attention close for the opera* [tors have ever before them the knowledge that bad work would bring Idiscredit on them: and they know , that but for the organisation, of j which they are important units, onethird of the recruits who are now available for the army would be passed out as unfit. The camp Dental Hospitals are under the direction of LieutenantColonel Hunter while the principal | dental officers at Trentham and Kea- ; therston, respectively are Captain Winstone nad Captain Hursthouse. A company sergeant-major is in j charge of the statf at each hospital. WILL LAWSON.