In this paper, author reports his clinical and bacteriological observation on teeth and palates of the lepers in the Government Leprosarium in Formosa. Together with his opinion on betel-nut chewing habit of lepers in this island.
A. The studies on diseased teeth extracted from leprosy patients.
(1). In this study 126 teeth were examined. They are all extracted from the leprosy patients according to the indication of the condition and the request of the patients.
(2). 107 of these teeth come from the men and 19 from the women patients. By type of leprosy, 73 are of the tubercular type, 40 are of the neural type, and the rest 13 are of the macular and mixed types. And as to the position of teeth, 6 - are the most. -6 the next and then 8-are the rest.
(3). In clinical observation of those diseased teeth, the pulp gangrene septica and pyorrhea alveolaris are the chief infection and then the pulpitis acuta and pulpitis ulcerosa are the next. Comparing these infections of the lepers with same of non-leprous patients, no differences found in anammesis, present status or in progress.
(4). In microscopic and in radioscopic studies of these teeth nothing differs from that of the non-leprous cases.
(5). The leprous redden tooth is likely very rare and difficult to meet in Formosa, but the writer is still endeavour to find this interesting cases.
(6). The teeth obtained on the postmortem examination of lepers are 249 in number, but they are mostly healthy teeth excepting the few carious teeth, pyorrhea teeth and attrition teeth. In these teeth too found nothing particular from those of the non-leprous cases.
B. The sensivity and lepra of the palates.
(1). Lepra bacilli are often found on the palate of the lepers especially in the tubercular type with the lesion on the palate but also found on the normal palate of the patient sometime.
(2). The sensivity of the palate of lepers are mostly normal, but the palate of some patients having total anethesia.
C. Lepers and their betel-nut chewing habit.
(1). 10 of patients in the Rakusei-in Leprosarium (0.33%) are having had the habit of chewing the betel-nut.
(2) A careful examination was made on the buccal cavity of those who had the habit of betel-nut chewing, but there were found nothing special to be reported.
(3). The mouth of the betel-nut chewing lepers are rather clean compared with those of other lepers. This fact means that this habit had a powerful self cleansing action on the teeth.
(4) From the relation ship of the age in which patients started chewing of the betel-nut and the onset of leprosy, this nut seems to have no therapeutic action against lepra infection at least in the buccal cavity. On the contraly spiting out the residue of the nut is likely to spread the disease. This is to be worth to consider from the viewpoint of the public health.
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