Page 80 - My FlipBook

30 PATHOLOGY OF THE HARD TISSUES OF THE TEETH.

junction, the rods to either side straightened up and closed over
them into a fairly well formed enamel. Still, most of the formed
enamel is a wild, twisting, curving and bundling of enamel rods.
With all of this the enamel formed seemed to be of normal hard-
ness in every part. In a considerable number of places the
enamel is plunged deeply into the dentin in long prolongations
that were too large and long to permit photographing with any
lens with sufficient amplification to enable the structure to be
distinguished. The illustrations show the characters of the
departure from normal very much better than it can be por-
trayed in words. In this case I could get no indication of any
other abnormal condition of the patient. She seems to have been
otherwise a normal and healthy girl.
Many of the teeth were badly decayed and it is represented
that all of them, whether decayed or not, were abnormally sensi-
tive to sweets, heat and cold, and to acid fruits. Also, that this
condition of sensitiveness had been persistent since the eruption
of the teeth. This sensitiveness was so continuous and severe
that it led finally to the removal of all of the teeth for relief. In
all of my observation this unique case stands alone. I have, how-
ever, observed in the mouth a number of cases that may have,
been of this character. The definiteness of the deformity and
the perfectness with which this definite histological character
was repeated in each tooth examined, indicates that it is a
deformity to which the teeth are liable. This is emphasized by
the frequent observation of the tendency seen along the line of
the dento-enamel junction to form scallops and whorls in teeth
otherwise normal. But I know nothing of the conditions leading
to this kind of deformity.
Dr. M. C. Smith, of Lynn, Massachusetts, presented casts
of a case at Buffalo, at the meeting of the National Dental Asso-
ciation, 1905, which seemed to me to be of the same character.
When I examined these models, no teeth had been extracted and
no opportunity presented for a histological study. Dr. Smith's
case presented the same difficulty as to sensitiveness.
White Spots in the Enamel.
White enamel is seen in occasional white or ashy gray spots
occurring in the enamel of teeth otherwise normal in color and
form. These white spots are usually small and are covered with
the ordinary glazed surface of the enamel, so that an exploring
tine will glide over them the same as over the perfect enamel.
If, however, the spots are large, this glazed surface fails to cover
the central portion, being projected but part way from the mar-
gin toward the center. In that case, the central area is rough,