Salt Lake Tribune | 1914-10-11 | Page 41 | "Growing Pains" and "Tennis Elbow" due to Decayed Teeth

"Growing Pains" and "Tennis Elbow" Due to Decayed Teeth RHCENT medical discoveries showing the close relat on ship between decayed teeth and rheumatism through the medium of germs and toxins flowing into the di gestive tract from pus sats in the diseased teeth and gums are familiar to readers ot tl is newspaper The further mecj cal science inquires into the matter the more it is inclined to attribute many other stubborn Ills of the human body to the same cause defective teeth and poison discharging pustules in the gums These discoveries have added new terrors to pyorrhoea commonly called Rlgg s Disease in which the gums fall away from the roots of the teeth and the whole area becomes a breeding ground of grms seriously affecting the general health owing to tl e impossibility of keeplrig them out of the stomach and intestines In an article contributed to the London Lancet of recent date the writer a laboratory experlmentor along these lines attributes that mystery of childhood called growing pa ns to this same cause These pains in the bones of the arms and legs he explams are always associated with an infected con diflon jf the intestines as is rheumatism But the germs stre- ococcl which are responsible for this condition do X Sii til ilT revolving fly curved blades AggaBita Irresistible path & through whola not originate in the intestines as formerly was the theory but in the decayed teeth and diseased gums of the victim Grow ng pains occur in cases where the physiological output out-put ot young people to meet the tyrannical demands of growth is at its highest Their resistance to these germs is therefore at its lowest Stubborn pains in the bony structure are manifestations of those germ toxins in the circulation It was natural that formerly this class of d sturbances following the general acceptance of the germ theory of disease should be attributed to the activity of germs originating In the intestines the waste pipes of the body where all sorts of microbes and poisons are naturally expected to exist Sus plcion that this theory was erroneous grew out of the fact that steril zatlon of the entire al mentary canal only temporarily al ajed rheumatic and other symptoms Experiments proved that these germs had a source higher up and this source was finally discovered in the mouth that supplied a Bteady flow of them from tooth cavities and pus sacs in the gums So it was useless to continue drastic antl septic treatment of the Intestines while the mouth kept up its supply of the poisonous material Among the many diseases for which bad teeth are now held responsible are Chronic inflamatlon of the pharynx disease of the middle ear mastoiditis gastritis gastric ulcer anaemia gout, neuritis even tennis elbow and writers and telegrapl ers cramp Medical reports show that tennis el bow disappeared when the fangs of a dead tooth wera j rendered asepti The explanation Is that the poisons generated in the di gestive tract by these germs of dental origin set up chronic Inflamatlon of the connective tissues between the bundles of nerve cells in the overworked area Just as they "ause In flammatlons resulting In children s growing pains when the child s nutritive processes are overworked to build up a larger frame The disquieting feature of the whole matter Is that teeth nnd gums which appear to be perfectly healthy yet may be breeders of this mischievous germ On this tpoo the Lancet writer says Not once but many times recently I have found this or ganism about the fangs of teeth which apparently sound showed on extraction denuded periosteum and sepsis of the alveolar cavity communicating with pockets about the neck of tne tooth "It is not however to this particular class of dental cases that I wish to draw the attention of your readers but rather to a series of cases of less evident virulence which ought to be the study of every practitioner those cases where it ind about the tips of the teeth themselves frequently healthy In appearance often stopped or crowned the streptococcus salivarlus is actively secreting a toxin which it pours n a steady stream into the area around the fangs This organism does not cause pus formation It is round in small fibrous sacs attached to the periodontal membrane and its action seems to be formative rather than destructive The effects of its growth are shown wherever connective or fibrous tissues, are In a state of enhanced activ ty oi where such strturea Tiave bepn injured or overstrainei '