Regency Health and Medicine: Recommendations for Tooth Care

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of this essential part 1 Avoid cracking with the teeth hard substances for instance walnuts nuts & c otherwise you run the risk of breaking your teeth as is but too often the case they then begin soon to decay and at last their extraction is absolutely necessary If you do not break your teeth you at least loosen them and painful tooth aches are sometimes the consequence 2 People are also liable to break or to loosen their teeth when used as they sometimes are for mere amusement to carry heavy things but these dangerous diversions are more common among men 3 A bad habit very common among women is the practice of cutting thread or silk with their teeth by which they wear away the enamel loosen them sometimes break pieces off and in time spoil their form I have seen females who bore visible marks of this bad habit in the shortness of their incisive teeth 4 Abstain from the too frequent use of very cold things for instance of ices and sherbet Hippocrates says Cold is hurtful to the teeth 5 Abstain likewise from taking aliments too hot it has been observed that great tea drinkers commonly have yellow teeth 6 Take care to use both sides of the jaws in eating in nearly an equal degree Some persons contract a habit of eating only on one side the consequence is that the teeth on that side which remains inactive are more liable to be
covered with tartar and to decay they are also less firm in their sockets and are sometimes subject especially the grinders to be partly covered by the gums 7 The use of metal toothpicks pins forks & c with which some people pick their teeth should be proscribed 8 Abstain from washing the head of the bad consequences of which practice we have treated in a preceding chapter 9 Cold feet are another cause of tooth ache 10 The naked costume the damp night air and the fashion of wearing the hair too short liketvise contribute very often to the bad state of the teeth The precautions necessary for the preservation of the teeth consist above all things in securing them from tartar their greatest enemy and caries which is sometimes the consequence of their being too long exposed to the action of that corrosive matter We have already shewn how to get rid of this tartar when the crust is not too thick but if the quantity be too considerable it is then necessary to have recourse to an instrument which removes it without injuring the enamel This operation cannot be performed properly except by a dentist The following lotion is recommended as a remedy for caries of the teeth Boil a handful of leaves of that kind of ivy which climbs up walls in red wine till the quantity of the liquor is reduced to one half and then strain it through a cloth Wash the mouth several times a day with that liquor this repeated washing continued for some time every day is said to put a stop to caries in the teeth and to leave no traces of it behind

Some helpful hints on tooth care from The Lady’s Toilette Containing a Critical Examination of the Nature of Beauty, and of the Causes by which it is Impaired : with Instructions for Preserving it to Advanced Age : an Historical Sketch of the Fashions of France and England : Directions for Dressing with Taste and Elegance : and Receipts for Preparing All the Best and Most Harmless Cosmetics Proper for a Lady’s Use (1808).

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