On the construction and application of forceps for extracting teeth / by John Tomes.

  • Tomes, John, 1815-1895.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the construction and application of forceps for extracting teeth / by John Tomes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    To fulfil these indications, recourse must be had to an instrument so formed that it shall grasp the tooth alone, and by the required force applied nearly in the axis of the tooth, remove it. Such instru- ments are forceps; but forceps so constructed that they shall accu- rately fit the tooth to be extracted, and so fashioned at the jaws, nibs, or blades, that they shall readily separate the gum from the neck of the tooth, to which point they shall arrive by simply placing the ex- tremities of the jaws at the edge of the gum, closing the handles, and at the same time pressing the instrument steadily in the direction of the tooth, till it comes in contact with the free edge of the alveolar process. As the teeth are variously shaped, so will it be necessary to have forceps of different forms; in fact, a pair fitted to each kind of tooth. By forceps so constructed most teeth may he removed in less time than by any other tooth-extracting instrument at present in use; also with less pain to the patient, and without inflicting any farther injury to the gums and aveolar processes than must necessarily result from the forcible separation of a tooth from its natural attach- ments. An instrument which in its employment requires that force should be applied to the contiguous parts as well as to the tooth to be ex- tracted, is an imperfect instrument for the required purpose; or an instrument which, by its form and mode of application, requires that greater force should be used than would be necessary for the dislodg- ment of the tooth, supposing that force to be applied in the most ad- vantageous direction, is also an imperfect instrument, and but ill fitted for the purpose for which it was designed. Such, however, are the imperfections of an instrument in very general use for the extraction of teeth—the “key;” in the application of which the fulcrum is rested on the alveolar process, betwreen which and the fulcrum the interposed gum is subjected to considerable pressure; just as much, indeed, as may be necessary for the dislocation of the tooth. By this treatment the gum is often considerably bruised, sometimes so much so as to lead to suppuration of the injured part, and always to an un- pleasant degree of soreness. The force used in extracting a tooth with the key must be much greater than the actual force required to effect the operation, because the power is applied in a lateral direc- tion, a direction in which the tooth offers great resistance, especially in molares of the lower jaw, where the lateral alveoli are strong, and composed of dense bone. I am quite aware that there are many and eminent surgeon-dent- ists who use and speak very highly of the key instrument; and no doubt it is very much to be preferred to the forceps ordinarily kept by surgical instrument makers: forceps which are applicable to no one tooth in particular, when applied touch only at two or three points, and arc quite incapable of being passed down to the neck of