Extraction of teeth / F. Coleman.

  • Coleman, F.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Extraction of teeth / F. Coleman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    forging and fitting the blades as nearly to the required shape as possible, to fit them still more perfectly by applying them to the neck of a normally formed tooth coloured with pigment; the spots marked by the pigment are cut away, and the process continued until an almost perfect adaptation is attained, after which the instrument is hardened and tempered. Thus constructed, the blades should fit accurately upon the external and internal surfaces of the neck of the tooth; but as these do not always bear the same relative position to each other, the small amount of play at the hinge, as mentioned above, is usefid in allowing the blades to accommodate themselves to this departure. The handles should be strong, broad, and roughened, but not deeply serrated, for this will make cleanliness difficult. The handles should be sufficiently long to afford a firm grasp, but no more, for although length in the handles gives greater power, they make the instrument cumbrous, and interfere with delicacy of movement. The operation of tooth extraction may be divided into th ree stages: 1. The application of the forceps to the tooth. 2. The destruction of its membranous connections and dilation of the socket. 3. The removal of the tooth from the socket. In the first stage the instrument should be taken in the palm of the hand, the blades pointing upwards or down- wards, according to the jaw operated on, the thumb being employed as a stop or regulator to govern the amount of separation of the handles, and consequently of the blades (Figs. 4 and 5). The blade should be first adapted to the most obscured side of the neck of the tooth, and then lightly closed upon the opposite side. This being done, the thumb is gradu-