Page 349 - My FlipBook

347

Dr. Darwin says more upon this subject than I have ex-
tracted, as I do not wish to weary the reader, or to protract
the subject. I trust I have said enough to induce every
medical man to consider the diseases of the teeth as at least
worthy of attention let him look at a
; if he still doubts it,
correct delineation of the ramifications of the fifth pair of
nerves, and consider that the dental nerves have at least a
nervous association, by being a part of this pair, with almost
all the principal organs of the animal system, and conse-
quently, their diseases.
I would not dwell upon the teeth so long, or with so much
earnestness, as to lead any person to suppose, that I consider
them the most important organs of the system; still I
would be understood as viewing them, as having been form-
ed by the wisdom of a Creator, whose hand never swerves
from perfection ; and had they not have been necessary to
the health, beauty or perfection of the animal, they would
never have been formed : and if an all-wise Providence, has
formed our systems so, that the teeth under some circum-
stances may be dispensed with ; or, if he has given us that
superior sagacity, by which we are all enabled when our
teeth are lost to prepare our food, so as to compensate in
some degree for the power of mastication, still this function
can be viewed in no other light than of great importance.
Man obviates in some degree the consequence of the loss
of his teeth, but in most animals, their loss or inability to use
them, is followed by death.
Nor are we from the same causes to lightly esteem the dis-
eases of the teeth, and because we do not every day notice
probably injurious or fatal consequences resulting from them,
to conclude that there is never any danger. A masked bat-
tery is to be dreaded. An insidious foe may plunge a dag-