Dental caries and the prevention of dental caries : a series of papers reprinted from the Journal of the British Dental Association / by Henry Sewill.

  • Sewill, Henry.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dental caries and the prevention of dental caries : a series of papers reprinted from the Journal of the British Dental Association / by Henry Sewill. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    carried away to make room for the inferior formation. And lastly, the recorder of this feeble impression does not do what he ought to have done at first, namely, produce a specimen of the dental tissues the seat of retrograde meta- morphosis. A single specimen of dental tissue having been found in a condition possibly to be mistaken for retrograde metamorphosis, there would be a legitimate ground for some statement of the case and some record of the apparent fact. But the impressionist does not wait for proof, and cares nothing for physiological considerations; he is content to register his unsupported opinion that retrograde metamor- phosis is a cause or the cause of dental decay. If this were so, nothing would be easier than to produce specimens of the tissues showing marked change. For, I repeat, such changes are not subtle and ill-defined, but gross and un- mistakable ; and out of the thousands of teeth extracted from year to year, hundreds would be found displaying the signs of degeneration. In the absence of any reasonable theory upon which the possibility of retrograde metamor- phosis of the teeth can be made clear, and in the absence of a specimen of the dental tissues in a condition of degeneration, I can only characterise the term as ludicrously absurd, and I may repeat now what I said at the Odonto- logical Society on this subject, that if it is possible to pro- duce a specimen of the dental tissues in a condition even capable of being mistaken for retrograde metamorphosis, I shall humbly apologise for stigmatising the term in this con- nection as ludicrously absurd; whilst if it is possible to produce a single specimen showing unquestionable signs of retrograde metamorphosis, I shall not only apologise, but will humbly resolve and promise never again to obtrude a criticism on a subject of dental science, for I shall admit that the subject contains mysteries too deep to be fathomed