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a state of disease, and nearly all her under ones. Some of
her teeth I extracted, and by cleaning the others which re-
mained, and plugging those which admitted of it, I was ena-
bled to put her mouth, teeth, and gums in a healthy condi-
tion, and after this I replaced her upper incisor teeth with a
set of natural teeth. This is not an isolated case ; I could
mention many more of nearly the same kind, but I need not
do it, as the reader at this time has only to take notice of
this subject among the people, and he may see similar cases
every day. From these facts I would lay it down as an
established rule, and one from which I never deviate, never to
file any tooth which is not carious, unless it might be to obvi-
ate or remove some deformity, or for artificial purposes.
Never to apply the file merely to separate the teeth. If this
is judged necessary, we may extract one of the bicuspid mo-
lar teeth on each side of the jaw, and the crowded teeth will
fall back from each other, so as to be relieved from pressure,
and the injurious consequences resulting from the use of the
file will be obviated. In these cases, the loss of these teeth,
either a bicuspid or a molar, (I prefer the latter one on each
side of the jaw,) is of an advantage to the health of the oth-
ers, and by the falling back of the front ones, and advance
of the posterior, the cavity is soon filled up, and the teeth
are greatly relieved from the bad consequences of pressure,
and this without injuring or irritating the remaining teeth.
This direction is one of more especial consequence in younger
persons, whose teeth and alveoli possess more mobility than
when older. At this time of life too, in a majority of cases,
caries is apt to take place in those teeth which are filed, un-
less ever after the most rigid adherence to cleanliness is ob-
served by the patient. I would not by any means advance
an opinion, that the enamel cannot be removed, or the bone
of the tooth exposed, without decay following ; or that de-