willow toothpicks are preferable to all others; and they have the
advantage of being the most cleanly, for they generally break in the
using, and are thrown away. Few sights are more offensive to a person
of any refinement than a toothpick that has been much used; it is,
moreover, uncleanly, and therefore not healthy for the teeth. Food
allowed to remain between the teeth, particularly animal food, is very
destructive: it should be carefully removed after every meal, and the
mouth thoroughly rinsed. This may seem to some like a great talk about a
small matter; but these are simple precautions to take, and very slight
trouble compared with the agony of aching teeth, or a breath so
offensive that your best friend does not wish to sit near you. I can see
no reason why a man's complexion should exclude him from the
dining-table, but I do see a very good reason why he should be banished
for not taking proper care of his teeth. A bad breath is such a
detestable thing, that it might be a sufficient reason for not marrying
a person of otherwise agreeable qualities. It is, moreover, perfectly
inexcusable thus to transform oneself into a walking sepulchre. Nobody
needs to have an offensive breath. A careful removal of substances from
between the teeth, rinsing the mouth after meals, and a bit of charcoal
held in the mouth, will _always_ cure a bad breath. Charcoal, used as a
dentifrice--that is, rubbed on in powder with a brush--is apt to injure
the enamel; but a lump of it, held in the mouth, two or three times in a
week, and slowly chewed, has a wonderful power to preserve the teeth and
purify the breath. The action is purely chemical. It counteracts the
acid arising from a disordered stomach, or food decaying about the
gums; and it is the acid which destroys the teeth.

Every one knows that charcoal is an antiputrescent, and is used in
boxing up animal or vegetable substances, to keep them from decay. Upon
the same chemical principle, it tends to preserve the teeth and sweeten