Page 279 - My FlipBook

277

by the removal of the alveolar process of both jaws. The
patient, a woman of thirty five years of age, had had carious
teeth from her infancy, and was almost constantly tormented
with severe tooth-ache. She was, besides, subject to fre-
quent erysipelas of the head and neck.
" Towards the close of 1824, she discovered a small tu-
mour, behind the last molar tooth of the lower jaw on the
right side. It soon ulcerated, and rapidly spread to the gums
and alveoli of both jaws. These parts were much swollen,
and considerably contracted the cavity of the mouth. The
fungoid excrescences poured out blood on the slightest touch,
and continually produced a thin and fetid discharge. The
deformity was considerable, and the voice was altered. The
limits of the disease were well defined, and the lymphatic
system did not appear to be affected, but the patient experi-
enced much pain ; her countenance was dull and cachetic ;
she lost flesh, and had febrile exacerbations in the evening.
In this state of things the patient was admitted into the Hos-
pital at Pesaro, where, after having first performed the oper-
ation on the dead subject, Dr. Regnoli" [no doubt, after hav-
ing divided both cheeks to a considerable extent at both an-
gles of the mouth,] " removed the teeth and alveolar pro-
cesses of both jaws, with the exception of the last molar
tooth on the left side of the lower jaw, the socket of which
appeared to be sound. From the situation of the parts, the
saw could hardly be employed ; hence, it was merely used
to form a shallow groove in the most prominent parts of the
bone, the separation of which was effected by means of a
chisel and mallet. Actual cautery was applied to the bleed-
ing vessels, and to such suspicious parts as were not accessi-
ble to the knife. The lips of the external wound were
brought together by three gold needles, and the twisted su-
ture.