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LEONARD MULLEN, DENTAL TECHNICIAN
Spruce Street Medical Building

269 South 19th Street e Telephone: PE 5-4222 OENTA
PHILADELPHIA 3, PA.

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LABORATORY

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TIC

A MAGAZINE FOR

DENTISTS
DENTAL HYGIENISTS
DENTAL ASSISTANTS

Editor,

joseph Strack
Contributing Editors,
Arthur H. Levine, D.D.S.
joseph Murray, D.D.S.
Art Director,

Edward Kasper

March 1959 Vol. XVIII No.

CONTENTS

CHOOSING A PRACTICE-BUILDING
LOCATION
A dentist explains how he
built a practice “more success-
fully and faster by purposely
avoiding a ‘plush’ location....”
SCIENCE, THE NEWS, AND
THE PUBLIC
If you have ever wondered
what the public reaction is to
dental and other health news,
you will find the answer here.

THE NEW DEPRECIATION

ALLOWANCE
If you purchased any equip-
ment in 1958, read this—and
save tax dollars.

LUNCH HOUR
A dental wife makes a plea to
keep the dental assistant’s
lunch hour inviolate. .......

A CENTURY OF PROGRESS:

DENTAL EQUIPMENT
A pictorial story of the devel-
opment of the dental instru-
ment case through the years.

A FIRST IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A NEW

SCHOOL OF DENTRISTY
A photo-story of the Dental
School of the Hebrew Univer-

WHAT THE ADA MEANS TO YOU
The story of what the Associa-
tion does for the public and

THE DENTIFRICE BATTLE
An account of the ADA’s fight
against misleading claims
made by toothpaste manufac-
turers.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY TICONIUM
413 N. Pearl St., Albany 1, N. Y.
COPYRIGHT, 1959
TICONIUM DIVISION
CMP INDUSTRIES, INC.
LBANY, NEW YORK

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $2.50

10

Opinions expressed by contributors to TIC
magazine do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publishers.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. BY
TERSEY PRINTING CO., BAYONNE, N.

CHOOSING
A PRACTICE-BUILDING
LOCATION

BY CHARLES P. FITZ-PATRICK

“When a practitioner's temperament equips him to fit his oper-
ations into an uncommon but above-average opportunity, he
benefits his patients and himself by accepting the challenge.”
Eighteen months ago the young eastern dentist who offered this
opinion had selected a ground-floor, former store property in
which to establish his practice.

The dentist’s choice was based on the conviction he could build
more successfully and faster by purposely avoiding a “plush” loca-
tion that, he feels, is uninviting to a certain type of prospective
patient. During the year and a half since he opened his office door
he has convinced himself of the soundness and profitableness of
his theories. The flow of patients to the dentist’s chair has in-
creased steadily.

His office, attractively styled to give it an interesting and pro-
fessional appearance, is surrounded by small retail stores on a
business street in a residential area. The section is populated by
those drawing incomes from mechanical trades, civil service, cleri-
cal and sales employment. Most of the families to whom the dentist
has exposed his services have moved up considerably on the finan-
cial scale within recent years. They are moderately well-educated,
although many still cling to the idea that the professional man is
aloof and the fees he charges are likely to be based on the exclusive-
ness of his working surroundings. “You must take dentistry to
this segment of the population,” the dentist insists. “These are
the men and women more inclined to procrastinate than to tele-
phone for a dental appointment.”

These are challenging conditions, the dentist admits, but in
numbers and in ability to pay for professional services this “native
stock” portion of the population represents an almost untapped
source of high dental office revenue. In his own case he is aware
of a reversal of some former conditions. His comings and goings
in the business area have made him known personally to many of
those who shop in the section. This has contributed to destroying
the “aloof” myth. His office is seen regularly by hundreds who
make purchases in the neighboring stores. The result is famili-
arity that generates more and more acceptance of the services the
dentist offers. Particularly satisfying to the young dentist is the
fact that many of his new patients have no history of regular visits

Page One

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ATA March 1959

to other practitioners. He says, “The upward turn
in my practice is not reflected unfavorably in the
offices of fellow dentists.” This, he argues, means
that both he and the profession generally are bene-
fiting.

In commenting on the healthy growth of his prac-
tice the dentist points out how impulse decisions
have added several dozen families to his patient
list. “A woman on her way to make some food pur-
chases will stop in my office to ask about a personal
dental need. Or she may inquire about sending in
her husband or one of their children. Invariably
these visits are not
planned in advance, as
indicated by one young
wife who said, ‘If I make
an appointment for my
husband he'll come in
but otherwise he won’t’.”
After ice-breaking
appointments most pa-
tients willingly make
and keep future appoint-
ments and respond en-

couragingly to recall
notices.
Before deciding on

what he terms his “off-
beat” location the young
dentist and his wife, a
former public health
nurse who now assists in
the office, convinced
themselves that dental
care and dollar income
are not linked as closely
as some have supposed. “Dental neglect is an
acquired habit that seems to run through some
families,” he argues, “and may continue in spite of
excellent financial betterment.” Unless parents are
regular in sending their children to a dentist the
youngsters in turn may neglect their own children’s
oral health when they grow up and marry. It is
necessary to win a father or mother over to caring
for his or her teeth to break the chain of neglect,
the dentist believes.

As proof of the fact that it is not a lack of money
that keeps so many from dental offices he cites a sur-
vey made in Montgomery County, Pa., the wealthiest
county, per capita, in the state. This study revealed
that 60 percent of the teeth of children that needed
dental correction two years ago have remained un-
filled although the needs had been made known to
parents by school authorities.

Among the most often-asked questions raised by
other paractitioners is, “How do you handle the
collection problem?” This has not been the problem

Page Two

“| DON'T WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME WITH A LOT OF
PROFESSIONAL JARGON. FIGURE IT THIS WAY—IT'LL COST
THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS TO FIX.”

that might be supposed. With the first patient he
treated the dentist aimed at a_pay-after-each-ap-
pointment arrangement. There have been some ex.
ceptions, of course, but this is the policy on which
he continues to operate in all possible cases. “Credit
men told me that those in what is sometimes called
the lower middle class who are employed are among
the best credit risks,” the dentist explains. “But
it is also true that most of my patients when mak-
ing purchases at the local stores pay cash. So when
1 say, “That will be x-dollars’ as a patient steps
from the chair, most patients react the same as when
the checker at the super-
market tells them the
register figure.”

Among patients _re-
quiring extensive extrac-
tions, full or partial den-
tures, and other more
expensive services, the
young practitioner ar-
ranges for financing
through a_ bank loan.
“But not at the bank
around the corner from
my office,” he hastens to
add. And for good rea-
son, too. “I learned early
in my practice that many
of my patients are re-
luctant to borrow to pay
for dental services at a
bank where some of their
neighbors are em-
ployed.”

The dentist’s dealings
with patients are also distinguished by his willing-
ness to space out the completion of dental correc-
tions. He does this so that patients will not have
to draw off too much from one or more pay checks.
“I regularly set up appointments so that they occur
on or immediately following a patient’s payday. In
this way the patient benefits from improved dental
health without suffering any financial strain.”

During the dozen and a half months of his opera-
tions this dentist has gained a new and refreshing
understanding of economics. ‘Most of my patients,”
he says, “freely discuss their hourly pay rates and
are surprisingly frank in outlining their financial
problems.” This above-board handling of financial
matters has, on some occasions, also been applied by
the dentist when he found it desirable to reject the
credit request of a questionable account. “I have
no need to hesitate telling such a patient that I
too, have rent, light, heat, equipment and supply
bills to meet regularly. This quickly destroys any
illusions about me being a ‘millionaire dentist.”

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The office in which the dentist is currently em-
ploying his dental knowledge, understanding of
human nature, and practical economics stands out
from its store neighbors because of its conservative
but eye-catching front. This has been achieved
through the use of wide lap wood-siding treated with
alight stain and V'd slightly toward the door situ-
ated at the center of the 20 foot-wide property. The
solid panel door carries a brass plate with the den-
tist’s name and below a framed list of his working
schedule. There are generous-size rectangle win-
dows above eye level on either side of the door.
These provide natural light for the reception room
just inside.

Comfortable Atmosphere

The dentist has attempted to create a comfortable
atmosphere at moderate cost in the reception room
through the use of full-width carpeting, upholstered
maple furniture, and several wrought-iron tables.
He keeps an FM radio in this room tuned in to semi-

classical music played sufficiently low to permit pa-
tients to read without interference. His operation
room occupies an area approximately 10 feet by
10 feet “which gives me space to move around com-
fortably and keeps patients from experiencing a
closed-in feeling,” he explains. He has a small
working room directly off the operating room with
the two separated by a divider topped with a long
planter with green leafy plants flowing over.

Better Dental Health

“It may have appeared to be somewhat of a gam-
ble when I opened an office in my unconventional
surroundings,” the young practitioner admits, “but
I would do the same again if I had to make a sim-
ilar decision. There have been financial advantages,
and even more important, I believe 1 am helping
lower the number of local people who might other-
wise be included in the too high percentage of the
nation’s dental cripples.”

3841 Aspen Street
Philadelphia 4, Pa.

Science, the News, and the Public

Did you ever wonder about the impact that sci-
ence and medical news has on the public? Or
whether the public was really interested in the sci-
ence stories appearing in our magazines and daily
press? And did you ever wonder how much of the
informative material on medical and non-medical
subjects is absorbed by the lay reader? Well, the
National Association of Science Writers recently
published an interesting comprehensive report that
tends to answer these questions. The forty-page
booklet, entitled Science, the News, and the Public,
is a detailed study of the science reading habits of
approximately 2,000 American adults who were se-
lected to represent a cross-section of the population.
The report, among other things, purports to tell
about the people who get science news, where they
get it, and what they think about it. Following are
some of the findings based upon their surveys that
were made in 1957.

37 Percent Read All

Through the press, radio and television, Ameri-
cans have access to a vast amount of science news,
hoth medical and non-medical, and much of it sinks

in. Three out of four people interviewed could re-
call at least one specific science or medical news
item they had read in the past six months. Gener-
ally, women preferred medical news to the other
science stories, while men found the converse to
their liking. Medical and dental news seems to at-
tract most readers, with 37 percent reporting that
they read all the medical news in the newspapers
and 28 percent saying they read all the non-medical
news. Furthermore, 42 percent of those questioned
desired more medical news, and 28 percent wanted
more non-medical science items. Newspapers were
the most popular medium for science news of all
types.

Fluoridation Score: 74 Percent

When questioned about reading any items on the
fluoridation of drinking water, 51 percent recalled
reading ‘“‘some such stories,” 23 percent had heard
of reports about the fluoridation process, and 26 per-
cent had never heard of it. This is compared with
88 percent who recalled reading about the polio vac-
cine, 7 percent who had heard reports of it, and 5
percent who confessed they had never heard about it.

Page Three

March 1959

g March 1959

The New Defreciation
THUGWANCE sosem sven,

A new rule allowing a special 20 percent allow-
ance for depreciation has been made part of the
Technical Amendments Act of 1958.

All dentists who have made purchases in 1958 of
any instruments, equipment, or other items of per-
sonal property used in their practice should take
note of this new provision. It offers an important
means of saving tax dollars.

Briefly speaking, this is how the new rules work:
a dentist who purchases equipment having a useful
life of a least six years, can deduct a one-time de-
preciation allowance of 20 percent up to $10,000
cost price of equipment, and can deduct up to 20
percent of $20,000 if a joint return is filed, even
though his wife does not own the property. It does
not matter if the equipment is new or used, nor
when in 1958 it was purchased.

To understand best how the new 20 percent allow-
ance applies, study these typical questions and an-
swers:

Question: | bought new equipment for $2,000,

having a useful life of 10 years, in the early part of
January 1958. I want to use the double declining-
balance method and want to take advantage of the
new allowance. What is the amount of my deduction
and how is it computed?
— Answer: $720 is the amount of your depreciation
deduction for 1958. First you take 20 percent of
$2,000 and get $400. You then subtract $400 from
52,000 to get the adjusted base for computing the
regular depreciation for the year. A ten-year usetul
life means the use of 10 percent annual depreciation,
but when using the double declining-balance
method, we double up on the rate and use 20 percent.
Thus, 20 percent of the adjusted base of $1,600 is
$320. The total of $400 (special allowance) and
$320 (regular depreciation) is $720.

Question: I bought some used furniture for my
office. Does used furniture qualify?

Answer: Yes, the equipment can either be new
or used,

Question: 1 bought a small house to be used
strictly for my practice, does this qualify for the new
20 percent allowance?

Answer: No, buildings do not qualify.

Question: | received a gift of a fully equipped office

Page Four

from a relative. Do these items qualify?

Answer: No, items acquired by gift or by inheri-
tance do not qualify.

Question: How do I inform the government that
I want to avail myself of this new allowance?

Answer: You must make an election.

Question: How do you make such an election?

Answer: The election to take the new 20 percent
allowance must be made by a taxpayer within the
time prescribed for filing the tax return, including
any extensions granted, for such year. The taxpayer
must attach a statement to his return indicating that
the election is being made and setting forth the
following information:

Description of equipment or personal property.
Date property was acquired.

Estimated useful life at date of acquisition.

How and from whom the property was acquired.
Total cost of each item of property with respect to
which election is being made.

Portion of cost of property selected.

Question: Does this apply to any capital items
purchased during the year?

Answer: No, it applies only to those assets (other
than buildings) used in the taxpayer's trade or
business or in production of income.

Question: What if I acquire the new items from
a relative?

Answer: Present rules are that it does not apply
to personal property purchased from certain closely
related persons. There may be further regulations
issued with respect to the situation where the tax-
payer buys equipment from a brother, sister or
father, in the regular business of selling such equip-
ment, at the regular prices charged to all customers.

Question: 1 didn’t buy anything in 1958. Can I
use this new allowance in 1959 or 1960?

Answer: Yes, you can get an allowance for items
purchased in later years, but the limits each year
are $10,000 for one taxpayer, and $20,000 in case of
a husband and wife filing a joint return.

Question: Is the limit cumulative?

Answer: No, the limitations are for any one tax-
able year. You can get the special 20 percent allow-
ance each year until the law is amended or repealed.

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There is a rumor going around that occasionally
wives of dentists delegate dental assistants to do
errands for them in the downtown stores during the
lunch hour.

For anyone working in a dental office that lunch
hour is the most frustrating fraction of time in the
whole day.

Into it must be crowded the business of lunch it-
self, battling for service at some lunch counter or
restaurant, or perhaps a cold sandwich gulped hur-
riedly in the office to save time. Then comes the
office banking, which often means standing in line
before a teller’s window. What time is left, if any,
is spent trying to get waited on in a department store,
where the usual quota of clerks is cut in half and the
number of shoppers doubled during the noon hour.

Recently I was pressed into service unexpectedly
during an emergency in my husband’s dental office.
That was fine with me. I enjoyed the work and the
stimulating contact with the dentist and his pa-
tients. Everything was wonderful except for that
pesky noon hour, which simply could not be stretch-
ed to take care of the things to be done.

Remembering the complaints of both my dentist
and many another dentist that assistants often took
too much time for their lunch hours, I was deter-
mined to be prompter than the promptest in check-
ing in at the office on time.

Ah me! Although I seemed to be running every
moment during the noon hour, invaribly I returned
late. A reproachful glance and uplifted eyebrows
greeted me.

Usually the dentist had a patient in the chair,
which made matters worse. Even though I had

LUNCH
HOUR

BY KAY LIPKE

checked the appointment book before leaving, and
knew to a minute when the first afternoon patient
was due to arrive, sure as fate there would be a
drop-in on the days when I was late in returning.

One day, in a burst of energy, I offered to re-
upholster the seats of two small reception room
chairs, and rushed out at noon to purchase the ma-
terial and a box of tacks. It was simple to find the
right material, pay for it, and leave the store, but,
believe it or not, the nearest store which sold tacks
was five blocks away. Buying those tacks took a whole
half hour! Flushed, and frustrated to the point of
exasperation, I arrived back at the office—late again.

Anyone who has read this page in TIC through the
years knows .that I am usually firmly on the side of
the dentist against all comers, be they wives, dental
assistants, or anyone else. I think the dentist is a
grand gentleman who has a very rugged job which
he performs extremely well, and he deserves the
finest assistance he can get.

It is my earnest feeling that no one should plan
on dental assistance as a career who does not recog-
nize that the dentist has a meticulous, nervewracking
profession and, if he is to function properly, should
have alert and skilled help at all times, both at the
chair and elsewhere in the office.

However, on the question of that lunch hour, |
must confess that I am squarely on the side of the
dental assistants. I feel that the wives of dentists
should be told by their husbands to do their own
shopping and run their own errands. After all, they
are blessed with the whole day to do them in.

1993 Lucile Avenue
Los Angeles 39, Calif.

Page Five

March 1959 Cc

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Theodore Rombouts: The Dentist.

A CENTURY
OF PROGRESS:
DENTAL
EQUIPMENT

BY CURT PROSKAUER, D.M.D.

PART 3 OF A SERIES

Many sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth
century paintings show all the instruments used
in dental offices for cleaning or extraction, lying

Page Six

About 1630.

Dental instrument case made by the New York instrument-maker,

Rudolphinum, Prague.

ee

Bagot. Around 1820.

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on an ordinary table together with various jars
and bottles containing medicaments, as in the
photograph at the top of page six.

Later on, at the end of the eighteenth and the
beginning of the nineteenth century, dental cases
were used; these were made of fine wood, and
many had a brass name plate set in the lid. They
contained numerous trays and drawers lined
with velvet, which held the various instruments.
Many had secret drawers where the dentist kept
his goldfoil, platinum, and precious porcelain
teeth, a new invention. Steel instruments usually
had plain ivory or bone handles, but some of
the handles were mother-of-pearl, “beautified”
with elaborately carved rosettes, garlands of
flowers and leaves, lyres, bunches of grapes, and
dog and peacock heads. These instrument cases
are the direct forerunners of our modern in-
strument cabinets, such as the graceful, stream-
lined cabinet at the right.

He walks beside me

Swinging his little hands

Content with a world of his own.
He’s not concerned with

Tomorrow and its demands,

He stalls these till he will be grown.

TO SAMUEL

March

1959 Cc

A present-day case. Courtesy, Hamilton
Company, Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Manufacturing

He kicks the pebbles

Stroking the leaves and plants,

Stepping in all the puddles that he can see.
He slips up on the squirrels

Crouching in savage dance,

He glories in his life that is so free.

I look down at him
Really objectively

And nod with a longing smile.

I want to join him,
Shed this dignity
If just for a little while.

Joseph Glazer, DDS.

Page Seven

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March 1959

A FIRST IN THE
MIDDLE EAST: ae

With the establishment of a new school of den- ies.
tistry, the Hebrew University in Israel has achieved
another giant step in the Middle East. The faculty
and student body have been drawn from all the ele-
ments of its diverse population. aa

Support from the United States will help it main- & ;
tain a high professional level. The faculty will prob- :
ably use as teaching guides many of the latest ad
vances made in the United States.

In February 1958 TIC, Doctor Kurt A. Rosen-
zweig, lecturer in public health and preventive den-
tistry, said that the future of Israel's dental health
depends upon a steady supply of well-trained den- 4
tists coming from the University’s Dental School.

He summarized the dental situation as follows:

“For the greater part of Israel’s school children in
the urban communities there exist dental treatment TEXT AND PH@THED

The administration building was lit up on the ofing of |

Israel's future dentists—the first to be trained in the country—begin their studies with A delegation of five dentists from

courses in the biological sciences. Several members of the class are newcomers from Iraq Omega to raise funds for the Dental
and other countries. give a demonstration of mouth rehe

of
ity

Page Eight

|
|
al

p on the o@ming of the University campus in April of last year.

ND PH@THENTICATED NEWS

ists from
the Dental
outh rehe

Hof them active in the drive of Alpha
and wateh Doctor Jonas Selverstone

A NEW SCHOOL
OF DENTISTRY

facilities which, although performing a minimum
program, provide valuable service. Further improve-
ment by in-service training of the dentists is desirable
and feasible. In rural districts and development
areas, similar services should be installed by the local
authorities, with assistance and guidance of the
government. Parallel with the treatment plan, a
continuous education program should assist and en-
hance the curative activities. Prophylactic measures
to prevent development of malocclusion should be
emphasized. Topical application to reduce caries
incidence should be introduced. The employment ol
ancillary personnel (dental hygienists) appears de-
sirable. Ultimately the future of Israel’s dental
health will depend on a steady supply of well-
trained dentists by the Dental School of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.”

A delegation from the Alpha Omega at the Dental School clinics in the Strauss Health
Centre. Left to right: Doctor |. Sciaky, executive secretary of the Dental School; Doctor
Louis A. Burman, president of Alpha Omega, and Doctor Manuel Maslansky, leader of

the delegation.

Page Nine

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Central office of the ADA in Chicago.

The Councils of the American Dental Associa-
tion might be called the problem-solving and policy-
developing units of the organization. Each Council
works on problems in a given area of dentistry—edu-
cation, research, legislation, and so on—and recom-
mends objectives and policies that organized den-
tistry should adopt in such areas.

If you are interested in becoming a member of a
Council, here is how you go about it: (1) you get
yourself nominated by the Board of Trustees or
from the floor of the House of Delegates, and (2)
get elected by the House of Delegates. Your term of
othee, if you make it, will be three years, and you
will be limited to two consecutive terms—or six
years in all. If you want the important post of
chairman of a Council, you must get appointed to
that job by the Board of ‘Trustees. As chairman,
you are appointed for one year. Alter that you must
be reappointed annually.

As a Council member, you will (in thirteen Coun-
cils) serve with four colleagues; in the other four
councils, you will have eight colleagues serving with
you,

An example of how important Council activities
can be is the Council on Dental Education. This
Council is virtually the official agency of the dental
profession in working out ways and means of obtain-
ing the quantity and quality of dental education
necessary to train dentists and dental auxiliaries to
meet the dental health problems of the American
people. This is a staggering responsibility, for the

Page Ten

WHAT
THE ADA
MEANS
TO YOU

PART 2
BY JOSEPH GEORGE STRACK

oral well-being of a whole population is tied to the
success or failure of this small group of nine men
and those in the profession and outside who help
them carry out their profound responsibilities. And
the activity of this Council can directly and indi-
rectly affect the private practice of every dentist in
the United States as that activity makes available
more dentists or less dentists, more auxiliaries or less
auxiliaries, than the dental needs of the nation re-
quire; or, to cite another example, fails to guide the
progress of the dental specialties and thus dilutes
and destroys the gains made so far.

Formally stated by the ADA, the Council's re-
sponsibilities are (in part):

1. To administer the program for the accredita-
tion of schools for the study of dentistry and schools
for the training of certain auxiliary dental person-
nel in the United States.

2. To recommend and administer the basic re-
quirements to be used by dental specialty boards in
establishing standards for the certification of spe-
cialists in dental practice.

3. To recommend and administer the basic re-
quirements to be used in the approval of dental in-
ternship and residency programs and to recommend
ways and means through which dentists may be given
continuing opportunities for advanced study.

!. ‘To facilitate the coordination of the efforts of

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the dental schools, the state dental examining boards
and the dental societies in maintaining high profes-
sional standards.

5. To acquaint the youth of the nation with the
advantages of dentistry as a career.

6. To develop and maintain a program of apti-
tude testing as an aid in the selection of dental stu-
dents.

7. To compile and issue reports and studies on all
matters relating to dental education.

The Council has played an indispensable part in
realizing the following outstanding achievements:

Forty-five dental schools, all accredited; thirty-
four approved dental hygiene schools; four fully ap-
proved schools for dental laboratory technicians;
dental specialties recognized by the ADA: oral sur-
gery, oral pathology, orthodontics, pedodontics, pe-
riodontics, prosthodontics, and dental public health;
1,500 graduate dentists taking post-graduate courses
and 20,000 dentists enrolled in continuation courses
and special clinics in 1957.

A unique achievement of the Council was the es-
tablishment in 1946 of a dental-aptitude testing pro-
gram. By 1950 the program had proved itself to
such an extent that all dental schools began to use
the test scores as an aid in the selection of new stu-
dents. Today such tests are given not only in all
dental schools but in fifty universities and colleges
where there are no dental schools. The total num-
ber of academic failures during the first year of pro-
fessional training in dentistry has been reduced
about one-half, from six percent of the total fresh-
man enrollment to about three percent. That out-
standing achievement has other professional groups
studying the dental tests in the hope that they can
use similar tests in the.r own fields with the same
success.

A second example of how vital the work of these
Councils can be is the Council on Dental Research.
Here are five men whose work and deliberations can
also exert a profound influence upon the dental
health of the American people and the whole prac-
tice of modern dentistry.

The Council has two big jobs: (1) to spark pro-
grams, projects, and the whole field of dental re-
search; and (2) to direct the ADA’s own extensive
testing and research program, which has immediate,
bread-and-butter benefits for every dental practi-
tioner in the country.

The Association maintains two research programs,
both of which are administered as divisions of the
Council on Dental Research. One program (physi-
cal and chemical research) is maintained at the Na-
tional Bureau of Standards, in Washington, D.C.,
and the other program (biological sciences) at the
National Institute of Dental Research, in Bethesda,

Maryland. Thirteen employees work full time on
these two programs.

The all-important List of Certified Dental Mate-
rials is the responsibility of the ADA’s research as-
sociates at the National Bureau of Standards. This
group has also been doing such invaluable work as
basic research on the physical and chemical proper-
ties of enamel and dentin. It has also been engaged in
the development and testing of alloys, acrylic resins,
and cements. This small group of workers also plays
an important part in producing the excellent color
sound motion pictures that are loaned to dental
societies and other interested groups.

The research unit at the National Institute is con-
cerned with basic research in microbiology, bio-
chemistry, and enzymology pertaining to dental
caries and periodontal diseases.

Another Council whose activities bear directly
upon everyday dental health, as it were, is the Coun-
cil on Dental Health. One might say that this unit
expresses the professional conscience of dentistry,
its social consciousness, in that one of its responsi-
bilities is to help make available more and better
dental care for the public.

For example, an area of current activity of the
Council is development of standards for group-pur-
chase programs, for budget-payment programs, for
dental-care services for the indigent and the chron-
ically ill, for union-management programs, and for
expanded dental programs in state health depart-
ments.

It is of vital importance that dentistry guide such
programs, lest the dental health of the American
people be jeopardized, the sound standards of the
profession be undermined, and large segments of
dental practice pass from the control of dentists.
Thus these nine men are doing a job of incalculable
benefit to every American dentist, safeguarding his

Board room at ADA headquarters.

~
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CEC March 1959

professional freedom in many areas where it might
be endangered and keeping dental practice where
it ought to be—in the hands of dentists.

But the Council is also demonstrating organized
dentistry’s responsiveness to the dental needs of
the community by working with constituent and
component societies and other agencies in encourag-
ing, developing, and strengthening programs, pro-
cedures, and policies to help increase the availability
of dental care to all groups in the community who
especially need it. These groups include school chil-
dren, public welfare recipients, disabled veterans, in-
dustrial workers, and others. Programs include
fluoridation projects, state dental-division services,
school programs, and dental care in Blue Cross
programs.

Few dentists are aware of it, but the Council also
works to improve methods and practices of dental
care. For instance, it even works with management
engineers and others in connection with designing
and arranging dental offices to make them more eff-
cient and attractive.

It has kept on top of such movements as the grou
dental health care programs, which could influence
importantly the practice of dentistry as we know it
today. Its brochure on this movement, Group Den-
tal Health Care Programs, is an outstanding ex-
ample of how a responsible profession can keep
its membership alert, sensitive, and responsive to
changing economic and social trends.

PART 3—NEXT MONTH

Chemical laboratory, Division of Chemistry, Council on Dental Therapeutics.

Page Twelve

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No dentifrice available today has demonstrated

Deutifrice Battle

BY MAURICE J. TEITELBAUM, D.D.S.
The American Dental Association has declared
all-out war against toothpaste manufacturers who

use false advertising, and called upon Congress to
give federal agencies the power to control tooth-
paste advertising.

ADA spokesmen have charged:

Advertising claims of the nation’s major tooth-
paste manufacturers are misleading and detrimental
to the public’s dental health.

False toothpaste claims generate a false sense of
security about dental caries, periodontal disease,
“bad breath” due to diseases of the nose, sinuses,
lungs and the gastro-intestinal tract, and serious
systemic diseases presenting a variety of oral symp-
toms.

Advertising that implies “sweets” may be eaten
with impunity through the day, provided only that
the toothpaste in question has been used just once
in the morning before breakfast, is a vicious sug-
gestion that flies in the face of all that has been
done by the health professions to educate the public
about hygienic and dietary measures for protecting
the teeth against the ravages of decay. To mislead
the public in this fashion is to work deliberately
against the public welfare.

“Therapeutic” dentifrices have been promoted on
the basis of the alleged merits of peptic digestants,
antiseptics, sulfated detergents, wetting agents, urea,
ammonium compounds, chlorophyllin, antien-
zymes and compounds of fluorine. One after an-
other of these dentifrices has been promoted with
unsupported advertising claims of great promise.
None has survived the test of time and use.

Most advertising for “therapeutic” dentifrices
exaggerate, inflate and otherwise distort the limited
scientific findings to the point where not only the
unsophisticated consumer, but even the dentist, is
grossly misled and flatly deceived.

The ADA is unaware of any adequate scientific
evidence to support “therapeutic” claims in the ad-
vertising of Super Amm-i-dent with Fluoride; Crest
Toothpaste with Fluoristan, Gleem Toothpaste with
GL-70, Ipana with WD-9, Brisk Fluoride Tooth-
paste, Colgate Dental Cream with Gardol, and Stripe
Toothpaste with Hexachlorophene.

Scientific data do not support broad claims that
dentifrices can prevent or eliminate “bad breath.”

itself to be of significant value in preventing oral
disease.

The Federal Trade Commission is powerless to
stop such unsupported claims, yet, where the public
health is concerned, the government is completely
justified in requiring a high standard of responsibil-
ity from industry. That standard does not exist.

So much for the charges.

Recently the “dentifrice battle’ echoed loud and
clear from the battlefield in Washington, D. C.,
with dentifrice makers lined up on one side and
spokesmen of the ADA on the other. Before a dis-
inguished front-line audience of dentists, professors,
attorneys, and representatives of government and
big business, that unobtrusive tenant of the medi-
cine closet, the dentifrice, had its greatest moment
in history. And a long history it has been.

Dentifrices have been used and advertised to the
public long before Magellan circled the globe or
Anthony was going around in circles over Cleo-
patra. For it was almost 5,000 years ago, in China,
that Huang-Ti first recommended the use of a
tooth cleanser in his Canon of Medicine, and an
‘ammoniated” dentifrice at that—urine.

Therapeutic claims for dentifrices reached a
frenzy in the nineteenth century when various
health peddlers concocted their own “secret” prep-
arations and advertised their cures in the weekly
newspaper. These dentifrices, they claimed, would
“preserve Teeth and Gums and prevent them from
Aching, cure the Scurvy in the Gum and bring
Teeth to their original Whiteness and by a con-
tinuance of its use preserve both Teeth and Gums
in a pure state for Life.”” The false and exaggerated
claims for dentifrices were so outrageous that some
men, like Thomas Berdmore in Disorders and De-
formities of Teeth and Gums, published in 1768,
warned against “vendors of destructive and false
tooth powders and dentifrices.” In 1802, B. T.
Longbothm endeavored to warn the public against
tooth powders for which impossible claims were
made: “those vile nostrums which under the title
of Dentifrices.. instead of answering the purpose
promised, bring disappointment.” He recommended
use of the brush alone.

Basically, dentifrices are simple compounds con-

Page Thirteen

March 1959 CEC

GEC march 1959

taining an abrasive, such as calcium carbonate, cal-
cium phosphate, calcium sulfate, sodium bicarbon-
ate or sodium chloride, plus a flavoring agent.
Toothpastes, in addition, contain glycerin and
water. But this simple substance has in recent years
become big business. So big, in fact, that last year
some $25,000,000 was spent to advertise the twelve
leading toothpastes.

During the last decade, to promote the sale of
their products, the toothpaste manufacturers added
“magic” ingredients to their wares. Between 1949
and 1951, aside from the heavy bombardment di-
rected at the public by Madison Avenue, over
twenty-five articles appeared in the popular peri-
odicals proclaiming the miraculous and revolution-
ary properties of these dentifrices. Here are some
of the titles: Ammoniated Powder Cuts Decay!,
Penicillin Tooth Powder Fights Decay, and Chloro-
phyll Toothpaste, Decay Preventa-
tive. Since “Irium” first made its
debut, it has long since been joined
by the “ammoniated,” the “fluorin-
ated,” the “chlorophylled,” the “pen-
icillinated,” the “hexachlorophened,”
the “homogenized” and “Gardol.”

The promises and claims made
by the manufacturers of these denti-
frices that are supposed to stop
dental decay and eliminate bad
breath have been hammered home
hard and persistently via the press,
radio, and television. So much so that the ADA—
which has always rejected such claims as a result of
its own research and studies—finally called upon
Congress to enact legislation which would permit
the federal agencies to control the “reckless claims
in advertising.”

Last summer the battle lines were drawn. During
the second session of the eighty-fifth Congress hear-
ings were held by the Legal and Monetary Affairs
Sub-Committee headed by Representative John
Blatnick of Minnesota, to determine what, if any,
legal action could, or should, be taken to curtail
toothpaste advertisements. Chief witnesses for the
ADA were Doctor Harry Lyons, dean of the School
of Dentistry, Medical College of Virginia; Doctor
Sholom Pearlman, assistant secretary of the Coun-
cil of Dental Therapeutics, ADA; Doctor Ralph
Creig, member of the Council of Legislation, ADA;
and Doctor Walter Hess, assistant dean and professor
of biological chemistry at Georgetown University
Medical and Dental Colleges. Public invitations
were extended to all concerns whose products were
referred to during the hearing. However, because
of the sub-committee’s prior commitments, no testi-
mony was received at the hearing from the denti-
frice manufacturers. In order to present the manu-

Page Fourteen

facturers’ side of this controversy, the author solic-
ited material from them, and this material will be
presented as their rebuttal.

Five companies in particular were directly charged
by the Association with false and misleading adver-
tising. Following are the names of the companies,
the product involved, ingredients of the dentitrices
(as forwarded to the author by the manufacturers),
advertising claims, and a resume of the ADA’s
charges and the companies’ rebuttal.

Company: Block Drug Company

Product: Super Amm-i-dent with Fluoride
Ingredients: High concentration of carbamide (syn-
thetic urea), sodium N-lauroy! sarcosinate, dicalcium
phosphate, calcium carbonate, carboxymethy! cellu-
lose, saccharin, glycerin, sorbitol and flavor.
Advertising claims: “Saves your teeth from decay—
Test after test by dentists prove it.”

ADA charges: There is “no scientific
evidence whatsoever” that tests were
made to see whether the use of Super
Amm-i-dent with Fluoride would
“save teeth from decay.”’ Furthermore,
the Association does not know of a
“single test by even one dentist” which
would tend to prove the slogan.
Company rebuttal: The Block Drug
Company advised the subcommittee
in November 1957 that Super Amm-
i-dent “has not been consumer adver-
tised during the past 12 months.”
Then, in an answer to the author’s letter of inquiry,
the research director wrote that “advertising claims
for cariostatic effectiveness of dentifices should be
substantiated by evidence obtained through adequate
controlled clinical studies on human subjects. Amm-
ident Toothpaste has demonstrated this effective-
ness beyond reasonable doubt.” They submit ref-
erences to seven published reports by dentists ap-
pearing in professional journals.

Company: Colgate Palmolive Company

Product: Brisk Toothpaste, Colgate with Gardol.
Ingredients: Gardol is a trade name for sodium
N-lauroyl sarcosinate which is also found in Amm-
i-dent.

Advertising claims: “Only Brisk Toothpaste gives
you the same Fluoride dentists use.” “The same
tooth-decay fighter proved for 10 years in drinking
water.” “Of the many fluorides, only Brisk fluoride
is so widely used and approved by medical, dental
and public-health authorities.” “Colgate’s with
Gardol stops mouth odor all day for most people
... With just one brushing.” “Colgate’s (Gardol’s in-
visible shield) fights tooth decay all day . . . with
just one brushing.”

ADA charges: The Association strongly objects to
the implication that the toothpaste has been tested

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for ten years by the Association in the ad with the
fluorides used in drinking water. It also stated that
studies made with toothpastes containing fluoride
showed no beneficial effect. Besides, the fluoride
used by dentists in the office, or as tested by the U.S.
Public Health Service, was a greater percentage than
that used in Brisk and was applied in concentrated
form. As to Colgate’s with Gardol, the stopping of
bad breath is ‘‘a hazard that is related to masking
the disease situation, like using perfume when you
really need a bath.” Doctor Hess, in performing
laboratory tests on the shielding qualities of Gardol,
reports that his findings were contrary to the claims
made. However, he did cite the fact that other tests
showed there might be a very slight reduction of
caries which was “not substantial reduction in decay
.and it certainly is not stopping decay.”
Company rebuttal: The Colgate-Palmolive Com-
pany did not answer the author’s letter of inquiry
but in a statement released immediately prior to the
subcommittee’s hearings said that “it enthusiastic-
ally endorses any efforts by the governmental agen-
cies to assure the safety of the American consumer.”
Company: Proctor and Gamble Company
Product: Crest, Gleem with GL-70.

Ingredients: “Crest contains calcium pyrophosphate
because of its unique compatibility with the active
ingredient, stannous fluoride. The humectant is
glycerine. The binder may be natural or synthetic
gums which serve to maintain the liquid and solid
phases of the paste in a homogeneous condition.
The detergents are anionic and are blended to pro-
vide the most effective cleaning. Crest contains
stannous fluoride at a level of 0.4%, a fluoride ion,
then, is present at a level of 0.1%.”

Advertising claims: “Look, Mom, no cavities!”
“Start the day with Gleem because Gleem is the
toothpaste for people who can’t brush after every
meal.” “Just one brushing destroys decay—and odor
causing bacteria.”

ADA charges: Objection 1s made to the slogan,
“Look, Mom, no cavities,” because it gives the im-
pression that the use of Crest renders the individual
100 percent freedom from decay. The claims are
based on only one complete study, which indicated
that at the end of the first year 248 children who
used the Crest formula had about 35 percent less
decay; the results for the second year were estimated
to be about 7 percent at best. Then, changing the
formula, the company came out with Crest, which,
the Association said, is not the same product used in
the previous tests. “By exaggerating and distorting
the modest findings of the scientific investigators,
these advertisements nullify the very purpose of the
investigators,” the ADA spokesman said. “More-
over, they clearly illustrate that the firm has sacri-

ficed scientific integrity for the sake of commercial
expediency.”

As to Gleem, obiection is made to the fact that
the ad makes a “direct attempt to discourage a
sound dental practice’”—that is, the brushing after
every meal instead of once a day. Furthermore,
there is no evidence of the effectiveness of one brush-
ing as stated in the ad. The ingredient GL-70 is a
foaming agent whose antibacterial activity is about
as powerful as ordinary soap. But “the fact that the
ingredients of Gleem may kill bacteria in a test tube
is certainly no direct evidence that Gleem will stop
or prevent decay or reduce the rate of decay.”
Company rebuttal: The Proctor and Gamble Com-
pany forwarded to the writer statements concern-
ing the allegations and charges made by the ADA,
reports to “substantiate” their mouth odor and anti-
bacterial claims, and several reprints of articles
wherein the eflect of a stannous fluoride-con-
taining dentifrice was used in studies on adults and
children. The Company’s reply to the ADA criti-
cism of the slogan, “Look, Mom—no cavities!” said,
in part, that it is difficult to make an objective
measurement of the meaning that “most people get
from a given set of words and pictures.” Next to the
ad they say, “Crest will result in far fewer cavities’’;
so, they claim, there is no desire to mislead the reader
of the advertisement that Crest will render their
mouths 100 percent freedom from decay. As to
Gleem’s ad about “people who can’t brush after each
meal,” the Company says it is addressing its remarks
to the 90 percent of the public who don’t brush three
times a day.

Company: Bristol-Myers Company

Product: Ipana with WD-9

Ingredients: The Company wrote that they “cannot
divulge the formula of our product.” However,
WD-9 is the trade name for a foaming agent—sodium
lauryl sulfate.

Advertising claims: “This space reserved for a tooth
that must last for 63 years.”

ADA charges: The Ipana slogan gives the impression
that “if you use Ipana toothpaste your teeth will last
you a lifetime.” There is no evidence from even
short-term studies that show Ipana toothpaste will
substantially reduce decay.

Company rebuttal: The director of dental research
at Bristol-Myers wrote to the author as follows, “Our
research was described in some detail in the minutes

March 1959 CEC

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Page Fifteen

CEO March 1959

of recent Committee Meetings...”; however, in
the minutes of the Senate hearings there are no re-
ports from Bristol-Myers.* The director also stated
that their data in support of their claims are “quite
valid” and therefore they are loath to accept some of
the negative comments voiced by certain speakers.
Company: Lever Brothers Company.

Product: Pepsodent, Stripe.

Ingredients: Irium is the same foaming agent as
Ipana’s WD-9—sodium lauryl sulfate.

Advertising claims: “You'll wonder where the yellow
went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.”
“Irium fights tooth decay.” “The best-tasting way
to fight decay.” “Stripe’s Hexachlorophene seeks
out and destroys germs even in the tiny crevices
where no toothbrush can reach.”

ADA charges: There is “no evidence that supports
these claims.” Once again the Association pointed
out that the effectiveness of a substance in a test
tube, this time hexachlorophene, does not mean it
will be effective in the mouth. The Association
commended the majority of ads for Pepsodent which
played up the cleansing value rather than the cura-
tive properties.

Company rebuttal: Lever Brothers reported that in-
formation on Stripe’s effectiveness would be included
in an article describing their testing procedure to
determine the reduction of oral bacteria. This arti-
cle appeared in the Journal of the American Pharma-
ceutical Association.

After thousands of words of testimony by the ADA
spokesmen alleging false and misleading advertising
and by representatives of manufacturers defending
their advertising—what conclusions can we draw
from this controversy? The subcommittee recog-
nized the fact that the Federal Trade Commission
was not discharging its statutory responsibilities to
halt or prevent deception in the advertising of den-
tifrices. The commission pleaded lack of resources
to do the job properly. The ADA suggested that the
jurisdiction over the advertising of dentifrices be
transferred from the commission to the Food and
Drug Administration. It was further recommended
that scientific proof of claims made by dentifrice
manufacturers be required, as proof of claim made
by cigarette manufacturers is required. Finally, it
was recommended that a code of fair advertising
practices for dentifrices be established and that ap-
propriate legislative committees of Congress con-
sider “whether statutory changes are required for
more effective enforcement action in the field of
false and misleading advertising.”

Manufacturers claim that they have awakened
the public’s need for oral hygiene and have instilled

* These research reports were reviewed by the Association in
preparing its testimony.

Page Sixteen

in the public a greater awareness for dental care by
their vast amount of advertising.

Dentistry’s spokesmen recognize there is some
substance to this argument, but say that dentistry’s
own program of dental health education should not
be underestimated. They say the manufacturers
could do a much more effective educational job by
emphasizing, not minimizing, the basic principles of
the profession’s educational program—proper use ol
the toothbrush, brushing immediately after meals,
reducing carbohydrate intake, and so forth.

It would be of benefit to all if the government set
up standard techniques for testing dentifrices that
would be acceptible to dentistry and, hopefully, the
manufacturers. In that way the major point of con-
flict, evaluation and interpretation of various test
ing procedures, might be resolved. Then perhaps
organized dentistry and the dentifrice manufactur-
ers, along with the National Institute of Dental Re-
search, could develop a format of cooperation that
might point the way toward a truly caries-preventive
dentifrice.

446 Clinton Place
Newark 12. N. J}

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