Page 134 - My FlipBook

136 SECOND PERIOD—THE MIDDLE AGES

lengths of the wire and crossing them in the dental interstices so as to
form a kind of network, the sound and firm tooth of the opposite side
will be reached, and this too must be wound around in a mesh, as it were,
of the said network. Then, turning back, the same operation must be
repeated, but inversely, until the point of departure is reached. All
this must be done with much skill, so as to render the loose teeth com-
pletely unmovable. When the wire is tied, this must be done near the
dental roots, so that the knot may not get untied; then with a pair of

Fig. 52

A dental saw (Abulcasis).

f^iG. 53

Another dental saw (Abulcasis).
scissors the remaining part must be cut off and its two ends joined and
twisted with a pair of pincers, hiding them between the sound tooth and
the neighboring loose one. Such a ligature should remain in place
during a whole lifetime; and in case it should come undone or the wire
should break, it will be necessary to renew the operation. The following
figure represents the ligature described:

Fig. 54

Ligation for steadying teeth in cases of blow or fall (Abulcasis).

"Sometmies, when one or two teeth have fallen out, they are replaced
m the sockets and bound
in the aforesaid manner and remain there.
The operation must be carried out with great delicacy and ability, by
\
skilful hands."
As may be seen from the above quotation, in the days of Abulcasis