LADIES' COLUMN.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11980, 31 January 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

OBSERVATIONS ON CARE OF THE MOUTH. (By Dr A. B. GRIFFITHS, in "The Gentlewoman.") A considerable number of disorders, and notably many affections of the stomach, can l)e avoided by careful attention to the health of the oral cavity. Particular importance attaches to cleansing the mouth, which is often done in an ineffective manner. This cleaning of the mouth should take place at least twice daily —in the morning as a regular part of the toilet, and in the evening before retiring to rest. Rinsing the mouth should not be hurried through, but- be effected as thoroughly as possible, the water being driven by energetic movements of the muscles of the cheeks and lips into all parts of the mouth, and particularly backwards and forwards through the teeth. This assures the removal of adhering particles of mucous or of food, whose decomposition is the cause *>f mischief and of an unpleasant smell. The temperature of the water should be lukewarm, and such as is agreeable to the I mouth.

I cannot recommend the use of either tooth-powders or tooth-pastes. These preparations are frequently injurious, and effect only an imperfect cleansing, in addition to which they generally merely plug up hollows or crevices. Fob cleansing the teeth, an antiseptic mouth-wash must be used. Nothing, however, is to be said against the occasional additional use of a very fine tooth-powder; but an antiseptic mouth-wash must always be employed as the principal means of cleansing the teeth, as a mouth-wash alone is capable of effecting its purpose in all parts of the mouth, whilst merely mechanical methods of cleansing by brushing with tooth-powders or tooth-pastes can never do anything more than effect a purification of the anterior surfaces of the teeth.

Still the teeth should be thoroughly cleansed with a tooth-brush at least once a day, and best in the evening, so as to remove any larger fragments of food. . The ordinary way of cleansing the teeth is to draw the brush horizontally backwards and forwards over the front of the teeth. This is a mistake. The brush should be moved upwards and downwards, and applied, not to the fronts of the teeth alone, but, so far as possible, also to the backs, and to the back teeth in particular. During the brushing, a small quantity of antiseptic mouthwash should be kept in the mouth, so that anything brushed off the teeth may not be driven, hither and thither but washed out of the mouth. The brush should not be too hard, but of a medium softness.

In conclusion, the rinsing water should be used for gargling. Noisy gargling serves no particular purpose. A small draught of the rinsing water should be taken, fhe head bent backwards, so that the water may flow slowly to the back of the mouth, until the muscles of the pharynx respond with an automatic contraction, when a slight movement of the head will eject the water from the mouth. The mouth-wash must satisfy the following requirements : —(1) It must be innoxious to the teetjh and to the.mucous membrane ; (2) it must have a sufficient antiseptic effect; (5) it must have an agreeable and refreshing taste ; (4) it must be capable of restoring the perfect sweetness of the breath.

A consensus of the experiments of the leading specialists shows that the abovementioned requirements are best satisfied by Odol, which is, for this reason, regarded in scientific circies as the most perfect prepare tion for the cleansing of the teeth at present known. The preparation has this remarkable peculiarity, that it continues to be effective for hours after the rinsing ol the mouth has taken place. Everyone at the time of cleansing the mouth in the evening should also purify the tongue, either with a brush or with a small tongue-scraper. It is almost incredible how pleasant a sense of refreshment this evening cleansing of the tongue affords.