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slightest douln, dfiital jirosthesis was pracrist-cl luirlur In doftors nor
surgeons, but b\' the dentatori's.
Abulcasis, too, certainh' for the same reason, is extrenielv brief in
speaking of artificial teeth, but, on the other hand, he ver\' niinuteh'
describes the process of ligating loose teetii. (iu\ omits this description
entirely, and only alludes briefl\- to this therapeutic practice. P'rom
this it is easy to perceive that whilst Abulcasis considered this operation
within the province of surgeons. Guv de Chauliac was disposed to exclude
it from the field of general surger\-, considering that this, too, like the
other dental operations, belonged to the dentaiores. In his days, in short,
dentistr\ had become much more clearl\ specialized than it was in the
days of Abulcasis.
After having spoken of the looseness of teeth, Guy de Chauliac goes
on to treat of caries, in a short chapter, entitled "De la Pourriture, des
vers, de corrosion et pertuifement des dents."
The method of cure, he sa\ s, is double, viz., universal and particular.
The general treatment embraces the hygienic and therapeutic means
already mentioned. As to the particular or local treatment, it consists,
first of all, in washing the teeth with aqua vitae or with a vinous decoction
of mint, salvia, melissa, pepper, or pyrethrum. Then it is necessary to
fill the carious cavity with gallia^ and root of cyperus,- mastich, myrrh,
sulphur, and camphor, wax, ammoniacum, asafetida and the like. As
may be seen, Guy does no more than mention the substances used in
his days for the filling of carious teeth, and does not tell us what various
combinations were formed with the said materials, nor the proportions
in which they were used. In short, he does not give us an>- formula for
the composition of a filling mass, and from this may be inferred, without
fear of error, that this operation also was never performed by him,
consequenth' it, too, was not practised by doctors and surgeons, but
rather by the deutatores.
When the aforesaid means of cure—that is, the mouth washes and the
filling—are of no use, Guy advises the margins of the carious cavity being
taken away with a scalpel and file, so that alimentary substances ma}-
not be retained inside it. However, here are his words, which seem
especially to refer to cases of interstitial caries:
"Si ces choses n'y valent rien, la dent soit esbuschaillee avec un ciseau
et lime,^ e qu'on lu\- fasse un passage, a ce que la viande ne s'arreste

' This name was first given to medicaments containing gall-nuts, then, by extension, also
to compound remedies not containing such substance, and to which was given the name
of aliptce, v. Nicaise, p. 677.
^According to Nicaise, the Cyperus esculentus (in French, "souchet") is here referred to.
^ In the Latin text: Buccelletur cum scalpro et lima.