Page 147 - My FlipBook

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Caries signifies a decay of the teeth, by which a part or
all of their substance is lost. This is divided by most authors
into superficial and deep-seated caries, and into simple and
complicated.
By the first they mean a decay of the tooth, commencing
on the outside, and proceeding gradually to the internal part.
By deep-seated, they mean a decay of the tooth, commen-
cing within its substance between the enamel and the lining
membrane of the tooth. Simple caries is applied to the
state of caries before it has progressed so far as to expose
the nerve, and complicated, when the nerve is exposed.
Messrs. Hunter,* Fox,f and Koecker,J agree in saying,
that decay of the teeth does commence sometimes in the
substance of the tooth, between the enamel and the lining
membrane, and even before the tooth has passed through
the gum.
Mr. Hunter says, it does commence then, but very early.
Mr. Fox speaks of caries usually commencing within the
substance of the tooth.
Mr. Koecker says, he thinks it commences rather oftener
on the outside, than in the substance of the tooth.
From the manner in which Messrs. Fox and Koecker speak
of the subject, we might be led to infer, that caries, commen-
cing in the substance of the tooth was of very common
occurrence.
If the observations of the two latter gentlemen are true,
I must acknowledge, that the sphere of usefulness on the
part of the Surgeon Dentist in preventing the decay of the
teeth, is, to say the least, extremely limited. For if their ob-
servations are true, this disease in its commencement, in one
half of the cases, is entirely out of the reach of medical aid,

* Page 137. t Part IT, Page 7. t Page 222.
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