DENTISTRY IN JAPAN.
The dentists in Japan's large cities have been trained on Western principles, and are as highly qualified as could be wished. But in remoter districts, and among the simple people, very different modes of treatment exist (says the Manchester Guardian). This is specially true of dentists, and the Japanese who ask for an extraction from one of these will at least be spared the sight of the instrument of torture. F,or the dentist pulls out the tooth with his fingers, and needs no instrument at all. Of course it needs long practice to be able to extract a firm molar by this means, and to attain it the dentist is apprenticed to a master. A board ,of pine wood lies on the ground; holes are bored in it, and in each stands a little peg of soft wood. These the student must pluck out with thumb and forefinger. When he is perfect in this he is promoted to an oak board and oak pegs, then to seasoned wood into which pegs have been driven with a hammer. When he can remove these without twisting or shaking he is qualified, and no wisdom tooth can withstand him. A capable athlete of this kind can extract half a dozen teeth in a minute, without removing his fingers from the patient's mouth.
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Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1426, 13 November 1923, Page 3
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222DENTISTRY IN JAPAN. Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1426, 13 November 1923, Page 3
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