The Teeth and how to care about it?

 THE TEETH

THE most exciting news in dentistry today is not any new drill, anesthetic, denture material, or other fix-it device or procedure. Just the opposite: It's a whole new concept which puts the emphasis on stopping dental disease before it can happen rather than treating it after it does. It is based on the development of simple, practical tools for calling a halt to tooth decay and gum disease. It promises, if you use it, to cut your dental pains and dental bills and could do much for your appearance and general health as well, no matter how old you are or even how much you have been ravaged by dental disease up to now. It is high time we had it. 

Good teeth contribute not only to appearance but to good digestion. They are necessary, too, for good and clear speech. And teeth that are free of disease provide no portal of entry for infections that may spread to affect other areas of the body. And yet tooth and gum troubles, which have plagued man through all recorded history, do so even now.

Even though American dentistry has been the best in the world from a reparative standpoint, the American mouth is a disaster area, getting worse, not better. Right now, more than 20 million Americans have lost all their teeth; 90 million have at least 18 missing, decayed, or filled teeth; and there are more than a billion unfilled cavities in the country. By age 35, one of every five of us needs dentures; by 55, one of every two. 'Fifty percent of all two-year-olds have decaying teeth; by the teens, five of every six youngsters do. 

On top of this, gum disease takes a huge toll, affecting not only older people-90 percent of those over 65 and 80 percent of the middle-aged -but also two thirds of young adults. Even among 12-year-olds, four out of five have gingivitis, the precursor of most gum disease. Dentists have been kept so busy fixing and patching that, according to a recent survey, 40.3 percent of the 90,000 dentists in the country are unable to take on any new patients. This, despite the fact that 40 per- cent of the population, practicing complete neglect, have never once visited a dentist. 

So bad is our dental health that, according to the American Council on Education, if all the dentists in the country were lined up on the East Coast and moved westward, taking care of the needs of the population as they went along, they would get only as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before having to turn around and go back and start over again. Such facts, coupled with insights into the why of both decay and gum disease, are galvanizing the dental profession. Its leaders and the best dental schools now are working to turn dentistry into a new kind of profession-no longer mechanical and reparative in major emphasis but rather primarily devoted to making dental disease as avoidable, in effect, as measles or smallpox.

Already, the Armed Forces dental corps has developed pioneering programs which are producing dramatic results. At the U.s. Naval Academy, Rear Admiral Frank M. Kyes, Chief of the Navy's Dental Division, has reported, "Dental decay has virtually be- come a thing of the past." In a recent cross-country trip to visit dentists leading in introducing the new preventive dentistry into private practice, one of us found them reporting enthusiastically that decay can be reduced by as much as 90 percent and even more in both children and adults; that gum disease also can be checked; and that the required measures are to a very great extent simply new, more effective methods of home care. 

The Nose and Mouth health issues and preventive care

Nose and health problems

The ordinarily healthy nose needs little special care. Avoid the use of nose drops, sprays, or sniffers unless your physician prescribes them for a specific purpose. Their continued use can cause irritation or injury. They will not cure postnasal drip. Actually, the nose normally is moist inside, kept so by mucus and a thin watery secretion produced by small glands in the lining of the membranes. 

There is a continuous healthy process of flowing and drying and sweeping backward to the throat of any excess fluids and mucus. It's this process that accounts for a normal amount of mucus in the throat termed postnasal drip. Thus postnasal drip is a normal process. If the drip be- comes excessive and unpleasant, it may be because of infection, allergy, vitamin deficiency, excessively dry, heated wintertime environment, or other problems.

Nose drops and sprays will not help under these circumstances and may, in fact, add to the problem if your postnasal drip excess is due to overly sensitive membranes.

If you have a disturbing postnasal drip problem, the best thing to do is to see your physician for definitive diagnosis and treatment, with emphasis on preventive treatment. If you won't see a physician, the next best thing to do is leave the drip alone. Despite what you may have heard, we can assure you that mucus which accumulates is not "full of dangerous germs" and will not "poison you or ruin your digestion if you swallow it." It is quite harmless. Your mouth does not need and may actually be harmed by "medications" that claim to cure halitosis and other conditions. 

Mouthwashes, antiseptic lozenges, and gargles come in contact with only the surface of the mouth and do not reach any germs that are more deeply entrenched when infection is present. Halitosis, or bad breath, accompanies gum disease. It can also be caused by teeth and gums that are not kept properly clean. However, it may be due to inflamed tonsils, infections in or behind the nose, and conditions of the stomach or intestines. Certain foods, of course, cause odorous breath. 

Some diseases such as uremia produce foul breath. It is not always easy to tell whether or not one has a mild case of halitosis. It is sometimes possible to find out for oneself whether marked halitosis is present by forced expiration into your cupped hands held over mouth and nose. In any case, there is no need to worry endlessly about halitosis or spend time and money on remedies that do little good, since your dentist or physician will be glad not only to determine whether you do have halitosis but also, if you do, to help you find cause and cure. 

Like the nose and mouth, the throat does not need sprays, gargles, or lozenges to keep it healthy. Avoid them because their regular use may produce irritation. Sore throats are almost as common as colds, since a certain amount of throat inflammation may accompany a cold.