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For many months, President Juan Domingo Peron had had trouble with his teeth. His dentist, Dr. Carlos Elbio de Oliva Paz, had not been much help. Oliva Paz and Peron had been good friends. Perhaps that was why Peron overlooked the fact that his dentist's claim to have studied in the U.S. was not a matter of record, and that the police had once arrested him for practicing without a license.

Last summer, Oliva Paz took time off and went to the U.S. on an official mission to buy cars for top brass. In Washington, he saw President Harry Truman, presented him with a handsome gold encrusted bombilla (the gourd from which mate is drunk) on behalf of Peron. When he got back to Buenos Aires, Oliva Paz found Peron's mouth in worse shape than ever. The effects of a bad case of pyorrhea were beginning to show. He lanced the gums, then Peron demanded a specialist.

Secretary of Education Oscar Ivanissevich, onetime ambassador to the U.S. and a skilled surgeon, had just the man. He called on Professor Stanley D. Tylman of the University of Illinois, who had just arrived to lecture on crown and bridge processes at the University of Buenos Aires. Dr. Tylman was willing. Oliva Paz went along as interpreter. The examination went something like this:

Tylman (peering into Peron's mouth) : "You have one of the worst pyorrhea cases I have ever seen. The treatment you have been receiving is incredibly bad."

Oliva Paz (translating): "Although you have one of the worst attacks of pyorrhea I have ever seen, your gums have been very well treated."

Tylman: "Since your mouth has been so neglected and maltreated, there is no way to avoid extracting at least six teeth."

Oliva Paz (still translating): "With the fine treatment you have been getting, your mouth and gums will be all right within a few weeks."

At such good news, Peron grinned from ear to ear. Dr. Tylman immediately suspected the translation, saw to it that Peron got the correct version.

Oliva Paz was dismissed from the case, Tylman took over. He yanked out the six teeth. President Peron not only liked the job; he liked Tylman. Thereafter Tylman was a regular dinner guest at the presidential residence. When he departed for the U.S. last week, Peron, Eva, Ivanissevich and other high functionaries drove out to Moron airport to see him off.

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