United States or Ghana ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Without knowing whether I could take chloroform administered by myself, and at the same time perform with skill the excavation of extremely sensitive dentine or tooth-bone, as if no anaesthetic had been taken, and not be conscious of pain, was more than the experience of medical men at that time could assure me.
The teeth are quite horselike, both in shape of the crescentic ridges on their surface, in the length of the teeth in the jaw bone, and in the fact that the crinkled edges of enamel on the upper surface are protected on either side by dentine or by cement. These surfaces, being softer than the enamel, wore away somewhat more rapidly and allowed the sharp edges of enamel to stand up in ridges.
The exposure of the delicate pulp to the air, due to the decay of the dentine, gives rise to the pain of toothache. Surrounding the cavity on all sides is the hard substance known as the dentine, or tooth ivory. Outside the dentine of the root is a substance closely resembling bone, called cement. In fact, it is true bone, but lacks the Haversian canals.
Any powder that contains pumice-stone, cuttle-fish bone, charcoal, or gritty substances of any sort, as many unfortunately do, is injurious, because these scratch the enamel of the teeth and give the acids in the mouth a chink through which they may begin to attack the softer dentine underneath the "glaze" of enamel.
I further claim that for the past four years, so satisfactory has been the result of this system in the extracting of teeth and deadening extremely sensitive dentine, there was no longer any necessity for chloroform, ether, or nitrous oxide in the dental office.
*To demonstrate the Teeth.*—Procure from the dentist a collection of different kinds of teeth, both sound and decayed. Make a drawing of an incisor and also of a molar. Examine both kinds of sections, noting arrangement and extent of dentine, enamel, and pulp. Make drawings. Which substance of the tooth appears to decay most readily?
Word Of The Day