DE CIVILITATE MORVM On Civility in Manners

XLIII.
Should the cleanliness of the teeth be attended to? It should: for if you neglect it, the teeth will suffer damage, for they are hollowed out and decayed by unbridled inflammation and phlegm. Therefore, you shall wash them in the morning with pure water: not with dust, which is for girls; nor shall you rub them with salt or alum, which is destructive to the gums.

XLIIII.
Should that which has stuck to the teeth be removed with a knife, or a napkin, or the nails? By no means, but rather with the feathers of small birds, or with small bones taken from the legs of roosters or hens.

XLV.
What sort of adornment should the head have? Let the head be clean, not uncombed, nor foul with the filth of lice or worms. Let girl-like vanity be absent.

XLVI.
Is it fitting to scratch the head repeatedly? No: because just as scratching the rest of the body with the nails, especially if done from habit rather than necessity, is dirty, so it is indecorous to scratch the head repeatedly.