There is a passage in this same book De carnibus, in which the great importance of the teeth for clear pronunciation of words is alluded to: “The body,” says Hippocrates,[49] “attracts the air into itself; the air expelled through the void produces a sound, because the head resounds. The tongue articulates, and by its movements, coming into contact with the palate and the teeth, renders the sounds distinct.”
The book De dentitione is written in the form of brief sentences or aphorisms, and speaks of the accidents that often accompany the eruption of the deciduous teeth. The most important passages in this short treatise are the following:
“Children who during dentition have their bowels frequently moved are less subject to convulsions than those who are constipated.”
“Those who during dentition have a severe attack of fever rarely have convulsions.”
“Those who during dentition do not get thinner and who are very drowsy run the risk of becoming subject to convulsions.”
“On conditions of equality, those children who cut their teeth in the winter get over the teething period the best.”
“Not all the children seized with convulsions during dentition succumb to these; many are saved.”
“In the case of children who suffer with cough the period of dentition is prolonged, and they get thinner than the others when the teeth come forth.”
In the third book of Aphorisms, where Hippocrates speaks of the illnesses that prevail in the various seasons of the year and in the various ages of life, mention is also made of the accidents of dentition. The twenty-fifth aphorism says: “At the time of dentition, children are subject to irritation of the gums, fevers, convulsions, diarrhea; this occurs principally at the time when the canines begin to come forth, and in children who are very fat or constipated.”
The works of Hippocrates are nearly silent on the hygiene of the teeth; but in the second book, on the diseases of women,[50] some prescriptions are to be found against bad-smelling breath. We translate the passage integrally: