"4 out of 5" v. "1 out of 20"

Take in one hand plain, unmedicated soap, and in the other a clean tooth brush. Lather the brush. Open the mouth. Scrub.

Dip the toothbrush in finely powdered chalk, and polish well the teeth. Rinse,

Finally wash out the mouth and gargle with an antiseptic solution.

The teeth are clean and polished. The mouth is rinsed and disinfected. A good way to "wash your teeth?" Certainly! But who does not use a "dentifrice" instead?

Every flavor from salt through iodine to peppermint is at the dentifrice consumer's disposal. He can buy gritty dentifrices or soapy ones. If perverse, he may vary flavors and textures with the seasons. How shall the advertiser, having a single soap-polish to sell, get it into contact, year after year, with even the most fickle palate?

Obviously one method is by an appeal to fear. The wary consumer may be convinced that some dread disease will steal upon him if he does not use a certain dentifrice. Most conspicuous in this field of advertising is the Forhan's slogan: "Pyorrhea seizes four out of five."

The Forhan Co. does not monger its dentifrice as a cureall. Its conservative advertisements typically declare: "If used regularly and in time, Forhan's checks or prevents pyorrhea. ... If you already have pyorrhea see your dentist for treatment and start using Forhan's." But always the fear-slogan is repeated: "Pyorrhea steals upon you like a thief in the night. . . . Pyorrhea seizes four out of five."

So great has been the success of this campaign of ominous warning, that a fortnight ago a rival dentifrice-maker was driven to spread across an entire page of the Saturday Evening Post, a retaliatory question: "IS PYORRHEA BEING OVER-EMPHASIZED?"

Having flung the gage of battle, I. L. Lyon & Sons, Inc., makers of Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder and Dental Cream, went on to declare:

THE RESULT of the Life Extension Institute's recent examination of nearly 17,000 of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's policy holders seems to indicate that a great" many people are needlessly alarmed about the fate of their teeth. Only 1 in every 20 had pyorrhea--only 5.7% between the ages of 35 and 44; only 7.1% between 45 and 54; only 7.4% past 54. Such statistics are all against pyorrheapanic. . . . For SIXTY YEARS the makers of Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder have believed that the purpose of a dentifrice is to encourage the regular daily brushing of the teeth. . . . For sixty years the pleasing wintergreen flavor* in Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder has made new friends and held old ones to the habit of daily brushing. . . . A dentifrice should provide only the necessary cleaning qualities to remove the sticky coating from the teeth without injuring the enamel. . . . If you are confused about the care of your teeth, your dentist will corroborate the verdict of sixty years. . . ." Alert readers of the Saturday Evening Post, eager to applaud a "dentifrice fight," reflected ruefully that Forhan's cannot start rebuttal through the Saturday Evening Post for two months--the time consumed by the Post's pulp presses and slow freight distribution system in the preparation of each issue.

*The flavor of Forhan's is "medicinal" to average palates.