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Show I i 1 I I I 1 1 I 1 I I I 11 1 I I I 1 I I I I l-r POINTS ON KEEPING WELL DR. FREDERICK R. GREEN Editor of "HEALTH" Mil l-H 1 1 I I 1 1 I 1 I I I I 1 1 1 1 I 1 I' Uc. Western Newspaper Union.) THE IMPORTANCE OF BABY TEETH Tr ANY parents think that baby AVJ. Ieetn are 0 n0 importance. What's the use of bothering with them. They'll soon drop out and bo done with. Tills is a serious mistake. Few people peo-ple know that, tit birth, every child has already In its Jaws all Its teeth, both baby teeth and permanent teeth. Tliey can't be seeu or felt but they are there In storage. Early in life, the baby teeth begin to appear, shoved up through the gums by the permanent teeth below, just as a cork Is forced out of a popgun by the plunger behind be-hind It. By the time the child is three years old all the baby teeth should be In place. The baby teeth ure smaller and not as numerous as the permanent teeth. Every mother and nurse should know what are the baby teeth and how many there are, so she can check them off as they come and know the first permanent tooth when It appears. Beginning In the middle line there nre, on each side, the two incisors, or cutting teeth. Two on each side, above -and below. That makes eight. They are the biters, with sbnrp thin edges. Tlieu the eye teeth, one on each side, above and below. That makes fouc more. The eye teeth are long, sharp teeth, not for biting but for holding. They are sometimes called the canines, because be-cause they are especially large and strong In dogs, which are descended from wolves, and in cats of all kinds. Then the bicuspids, two on each side above and below. That makes eight more or twenty In all. These are the baby teeth and If the child Is healthy and the teeth are kept clean, they work perfectly from thr ' years of age when they are all In position, po-sition, until eleven or twelve, when the last one drops out. But If by decay or accident one of the baby teeth is lost before the permanent per-manent tooth behind It Is ready to take Its place, then the whole program Is upset. The teeth back of the lost tooth are pushed forward and the teeth In front are pushed back by the pressure of the lips, so that the vacant space left by the missing toot!j Is closed. When the permanent tooth tries to grow up into position. It Is twisted and so comes in crooked. This Is the most common cause of crooked . teeth. If one tooth grows in crooked, a'l the others are apt to be affected. Correcting Cor-recting this defect is very slow, painful pain-ful and expensive. You can't improve on nature. Keep the baby teeth clean and sound and the permanent teeth will come in straight and perfect. |