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ready tact for adapting means to ends.
I will in this place
make one general remark that I have often hinted
at, which
is of the .first consequence, and should be noticed by every
operating dentist. When we operate upon the teeth, we
should remember that they are living organs, and that all our
operations ought to be performed with care and tenderness,
and not with that butchery and violence which is occasion-
ally witnessed, to the disgrace of the operator, to the injury
of the patient, and the disrepute of the profession.

SECTION VI.

OF THE ORDER IN WHICH DENTAL OPERATIONS SHOULD BE
PERFORMED.

Having now passed over, in detail, the several operations
required for the removal of the teeth, for the preservation of
their regularity, and for the cure of their diseases, and for
the cure of diseased gums, I now deem it necessary and pro-
per, for the complete elucidation of the subject, and to ena-
ble the surgeon-dentist so to direct the order of his opera-
tions as to insure a return of perfect and permanent health
to the teeth, to mention the order in which these several op-
erations should be performed, in order to insure the grand
object for which they are performed, which is to complete-
ly eradicate disease from the teeth, and their appendages.
When our patients call upon us for our professional advice
or services, the first step is, to examine, in a critical manner,
the state of the teeth and gums, noticing whether there are
any dead or useless teeth or stumps—whether any of the