Volume 3

The principles and practice of dentistry : including anatomy, physiology, pathology, therapeutics, dental surgery and mechanism / by Chapin A. Harris.

  • Harris, Chapin A. (Chapin Aaron), 1806-1860.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles and practice of dentistry : including anatomy, physiology, pathology, therapeutics, dental surgery and mechanism / by Chapin A. Harris. 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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    that it is unsafe to give it to a patient laboring under disease of the heart, brain, or lungs. The practitioner, therefore, whether medical or dental, should be well assured, before giving ether or chloroform, and especially the latter, that these organs are not only free from disease, but also from any morbid tendency, as ignorance with regard to this matter might lead to fatal consequences. It should be given cautiously under any circumstances, and the pulse should never be permitted to fall, during the inhalation, below sixty, or, at least, fifty-five beats a minute; but if, from carelessness or any other cause, the patient should sink and the pulsation cease, the agent should be immediately removed from the mouth, and if occupying a sitting posture he should be placed in a reclining position, air freely admitted, cold water dashed in the face, the feet and hands rubbed with hot salt or mustard, and, if necessary, artificial respiration made and galvanism applied. In addition to these means the tongue should be depressed and drawn for- ward by a finger thrust deeply into the mouth, as recommended by Ricord; or Marshall Hall's or Sylvester's or Howard's methods may be faithfully and patiently practiced. Ellis gives the following simplified formula of his method for cases of asphyxia from drowning: In- stantly place the patient on the face and side, supporting the head. Unfasten the clothes about the neck and chest, braces, etc. Wipe and clean the mouth and nostrils. Raise and support the chest on a folded coat or bundle. Roll the patient constantly and gently from the face to the side, and back again, occasionally changing the side, supporting the head. On the completion of each turn to the face make a brisk pressure on the back, between and below each shoulder blade. Dry and rub the patient briskly, rubbing upward. The inversion of the body, a method devised by the celebrated French surgeon Nelaton, has been resorted to successfully. Nitrite of amyl, a powerful stimulant, has been successfully inhaled in cases of chloroform necrosis with dangerous symptoms, but care is necessary in its use; and not more than Ti^ij should be administered by inhala- tion to persons unaccustomed to its effects. It is thought by those who have had most experience in the use of ether and chloroform as anesthetic agents that their administration is attended with less danger when the patient is in a reclining than when in a sitting posture. It would be well, therefore, when ether is used preparatory to the extraction of teeth, to place the patient as nearly as possible in such a position ; when the dentist is provided with an oper- ating chair having a movable back, this can be very readily done. Nitrous Oxid Gas is more generally employed as an anesthetic in the practice of dentistry than any other, and the immunity from acci- dent with which it is administered is an evidence of its safety when