Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/264

 Brushing Your Teeth; There Is a Right and a Wrong Way

��IF people as a whole were aware of the importance that a tooth- brush plays in the healthful happiness of their entire body more attention would be paid to this perfunctory daily exercise. The soberness of this fact is perhaps a trifle more evident when it is mentioned that mouth infection is now known to be the source of numer- ous diseases that cause chronic sick- ness and eventually death. Looking upon the situation from the opposite side, it is equally true that mouth and

���The teeth and gums shoiald be scrubbed

with a circular motion five or six times

in succession

teeth cleansing is the chief means of preventing these diseases, and in many instances, curing them.

A Philadelphia physician, who has gone more deeply than usual into this question, points out that mouth washes are of no value in the presence of bacterial masses, unless these are removed once a day at least. In other words, the mouth should be thorough- ly scrubbed daily.

This physician lays even more stress

���The tooth brush should be small and the bristles short. The upper brush is similar to those usually bought. The lower brush is correct

��upon the correct use of the toothbrush. He has calculated the antiseptic and

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��The spaces between the teeth should first be carefully cleaned with dental floss

curative results brought about by the the use of the toothbrush on a mathe- matical basis.

For example, the tooth brush being usually two inches long, generally re- duces the movement of the bristles to a half inch, which is almost all taken up by springing and pivoting, so that the actual friction amounts to very little, if anything.

Therefore, considering that friction is a highly desirable factor, the ideal

���It is most important that the circular

brushing should extend as far back in

the mouth as possible

tooth brush is one not over one inch and a quarter long with bristles not over a quarter of an inch in length. Bristles of this length will necessarily be stiff, but if the gums are soft and inflamed, a brisk rubbing is the best thing in the world for them, and will, in the course of a week or two, bring them back to a state of health again. The fact that the inflamed gums become sorer than usual during the first few days is an indication of self-poisoning, or autoinoculation, a condition and a result that should not exist in an otherwise healthy person.

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