A dictionary of dental science, biography, bibliography, and medical terminology / by Chapin A. Harris.

  • Harris, Chapin A. (Chapin Aaron), 1806-1860.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dictionary of dental science, biography, bibliography, and medical terminology / by Chapin A. Harris. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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tition, it will be sufficient to state that when a tooth of replacement is about to emerge from the gums, or has actually made its appearance, either before or behind the corresponding temporary, the latter should, at once, be removed; and when the aperture formed by the loss of this is so narrow as to prevent the former from acquiring its proper position, it may sometimes be even ne- cessary to extract an adjoining tempo- rary tooth; but, for more explicit direc- tions upon this subject, the reader is re- ferred to what has been said on the management of second dentition. Al- veolar abscess, necrosis of the walls of an alveolus, and pain in a temporary tooth, which cannot be assuaged by any of the usual remedies, may, also, be re- garded as indications which call for the removal of these teeth. With regard to the indications which should determine the extraction of a permanent tooth, the following may be mentioned, as constituting the princi- pal: First, when a molaris, from the loss of its antagonizing teeth, or other causes, has become partially displaced, or is a source of constant irritation to the sur- rounding parts, it should be removed. Second, a constant discharge of fetid matter through a carious opening in the crown from the nerve cavity, and the canal of the root of a tooth, may, also, be regarded as an indication calling for the operation under consideration.— There may, however, be circumstances which would justify a practitioner in yielding to the Avishes of, or, even advis- ing his patient to permit the retention of such a tooth; as, for example, when the discharge of fetid matter from it is not very considerable, and it is situated in the anterior part of the mouth and can- not be securely replaced with an artifi- cial substitute. The secretion of fetid matter, too, may, in some cases, by ju- dicious treatment, be prevented; in this case, the tooth may, perhaps, be pre- served for many years, by plugging, and the morbid influence, which it would otherwise exert upon the surrounding parts, be wholly counteracted. But, it is only in the feAvest number of cases that such favorable results can be secured. A front tooth should not be sacrificed unless called for by some very urgent necessity, but neither an upper incisor nor cuspidatus, should be per- mitted to remain in the mouth, if it ex- erts a manifest morbid influence upon the surrounding parts. In this case the eff'ects resulting from its retention in the mouth might be worse than the loss of the tooth. Third, a tooth which is the cause of alveolar abscess, should not, as a general rule, be permitted to remain in the mouth, but, as in the case last described, if it be an incisor or cuspida- tus, and the discharge of matter through the gum is small, occurring only at long intervals, and especially if the organ cannot be securely replaced with an ar- tificial substitute, it may be advisable to permit it to remain. But an abscess in the socket of a bicuspis or molaris, may be considered as constituting a sufficient indication for the removal of a tooth. Fourth, irregularity in the arrange- ment of the teeth, resulting from a dis- proportion between the size of the teeth and alveolar arch, is another indication Avhich calls for the operation. But, with regard to the teeth which it is most proper to remove, the reader is referred to the article on irregularity of these organs. Here he will find full direc- tions for the management of cases of this kind. Fifth, all dead teeth and roots of teeth, and teeth which have become so much loosened from the destruction of their sockets as to be a constant source of disease to their adjacent parts, or teeth Avhich are otherAvise diseased, and are a cause of neuralgia of the face, a morbid condition of the maxillary sinus, dys- pepsia, or any other local or constitu- tional disturbance, should, as a general rule, be extracted.