Iris or Orris Root.—This substance is et pulverized root of the common species of lily known as the flower de luce which is cultivated in the neigh borhood of Florence for this sub stance. It is particularly valuable for its violet-scented perfume.
Coral.—This substance is a carbo nate of lime obtained by grinding up the hard skeleton of the coral polyp which produces the Coral Islands. In ground form it has a quality similar to chalk, but as an ingredient for tooth powder is valued principally for its color.
Other Ingredients.—In addition to the standard recipes for dentifrices given in the following tables, a num ber of simple remedies may be men tioned which are always at hand.
Salt water in strong solution is a useful mouth wash, and dry salt may also be applied by means of a brush to cleanse the teeth.
Borax is also useful and tends to remove the smell of tobacco and other unpleasant odors from the breath. Dissolve 2 to 4 ounces of bo rax in a pint of hot water and flavor, if convenient, with half a teaspoon ful of tincture of myrrh or spirits of camphor.
Castile Soap, or other neutral hard white soap, is good for the teeth. It may be applied by rubbing the cake of soap with a wet toothbrush, which may afterwards be dipped into a scented tooth powder to cover the slightly unpleasant taste. But the taste of castile soap is not objection able to those who have become ac customed to it.
To Whiten the Teeth.—Salt com bined with peroxide of hydrogen is a powerful bleach. Apply by wet ting the brush with the pure peroxide and sprinkle with dry salt, but do not use this oftener than is neces sary.
Tooth powders containing charcoal assist in whitening the teeth. A lit tle dry charcoal powder may be rubbed gently into the crevices be tween the teeth on retiring at night, and brushed or rinsed out thoroughly in the morning. The use of bicarbo nate of soda as a tooth powder has the same property.
Mix 1 ounce of chloride of lime, 10 ounces of prepared chalk, ounce of Peruvian bark, 1 teaspoonful of tinc ture of myrrh. Use once a day until the teeth are sufficiently whitened. Afterwards use an ordinary tooth powder.
The juice of the common straw berry is said to be a natural denti frice which has the property of dis solving tartar and sweetening the breath.
Or, to remove tartar, dip the brush in powdered magnesia.
Tooth Powder. — A good tooth powder is a very necessary toilet ar ticle, as it not only increases the effi ciency of the brush, but also makes the operation of cleansing the teeth more agreeable, and hence tends to strengthen the habit.
Standard tooth powders are based mainly upon some carbonate having a slightly alkaline quality. But care must be taken not to use the stronger alkalies, as they tend to irritate the gums and mucuous surfaces of the mouth. Many of the tooth powders of commerce, especially the cheaper sorts, contain substances that if used with hard water produce free alkali. This may have a very injurious effect upon the gums. Hence it is much better to buy the ingredients and make up a tooth powder for yourself, or have a recipe made up for you by a local druggist. Thus you will know exactly what ingredients it contains. The powders used in tooth powders must be very finely pulverized and free from gritty particles. Such sub stances as ground oyster shells, pum ice, cuttlefish bone, cigar ashes, and like, unless ground very fine in deed, are unnecessarily coarse and gritty. Tooth powders may be col ored at will, as the coloring matter does not affect their efficiency one way or the other. The addition of some agreeable perfume, as the oil of wintergreen, sassafras, or the like, may have a decided advantage in making children and others take more kindly to the frequent use of tooth powder. A word of caution is especially needed against the use of commercial tooth powders that rap idly remove tartar and quickly give the teeth a snowy whiteness. To ac complish these results they contain strong acids that will injure the enamel and make the last state of the teeth much worse than the first.
To Compound Tooth Powders.—If charcoal or cuttlefish bone are used, they should be reduced to a very fine powder in a mortar, and may be improved by mixing with water and allowing the coarser and heavier to settle. The finer parti cles that settle more slowly may then be poured off without disturbing the sediment. The water may then be permitted to evaporate, thus leaving a resulting powder of the best quality.