DEHORNERS: See Horn.
DELTA METAL: See Alloys.
DEMON BOWLS OF FIRE: See Pyrotechnics.
DENTAL CEMENTS: See Cements.
DENTIFRICES
Tooth Powders:
A perfect tooth powder that will clean the teeth and mouth with thoroughness need contain but few ingredients and is easily made. For the base there is nothing better than precipitated chalk; it possesses all the detergent and polishing properties necessary for the thorough cleansing of the teeth, and it is too soft to do any injury to soft or to defective or thinly enameled teeth. This cannot be said of pumice, cuttlebone, charcoal, kieselguhr, and similar abradants that are used in tooth powders. Their use is reprehensible in a tooth powder. The use of pumice or other active abradant is well enough occasionally, by persons afflicted with a growth of tartar on the teeth, but even then it is best applied by a competent dentist. Abrading powders have much to answer for in hastening the day of the toothless race.
Next in value comes soap. Powdered white castile soap is usually an ingredient of tooth powders. There is nothing so effective for removing sordes or thickened mucus from the gums or mouth. But used alone or in too large proportions, the taste is unpleasant. Orris possesses no cleansing properties, but is used for its flavor and because it is most effective for masking the taste of the soap. Sugar or saccharine may be used for sweetening, and for flavoring almost anything can be used. Flavors should, in the main, be used singly, though mixed flavors lack the clean taste of simple flavors.
The most popular tooth powder sold is the white, saponaceous, wintergreen-flavored powder, and here is a formula for this type:
| I.— | Precipitated chalk | 1 pound |
|---|---|---|
| White castile soap | 1 ounce | |
| Florentine orris | 2 ounces | |
| Sugar (or saccharine, 2 grains) | 1 ounce | |
| Oil of wintergreen | 1/4 ounce |