Page 156 - My FlipBook

158 SECOND PERIOD—THE MIDDLE AGES
I
the teeth of the latter were Hke those of wild beasts, a thing which he con-
sidered as a bad omen.
According to him, toothache is a disease proper to man, no other animal
being liable to it.
To keep free from odontalgia, there is, says he, a very simple means,
which consists in rubbing the teeth once a year with the blood of a tortoise.
This is the first writer who has noted the harmful effect which mercury
has on the gums and teeth, whether this remedy be used internally or
externally, that is, bv friction.

Fig. 56

The pelican as represented in Giovanni d'Arcoli's work. Forceps pro extrahendis
dentibus pulicanum dicta.

Fig.
57

Dental forceps (Giovanni u'Arcoli). Forcipum pro extrahendis dentibus forma.

Fig. 58

1 he forceps called "stork's bill," as represented in Giovanni d'Arcoli's work. Forceps
pro extrahendis fragmentis quod Rostrum Ciconiae dicent.

Benedetti recommends that before proceeding to the extraction of a
tooth an accurate diagnosis should be made, so that it may not happen
that, by mistaking for true odontalgia a pain localized in the gums or
in the jaw, a sound tooth be drawn, under the belief that it is the cause
of the pain; for, this happening, not only would the pain continue, but
there would be, in addition, the loss of a sound tooth, and also the dis-
advantage of the neighboring ones becoming less firm, for want of support.
This author, too, attributes great importance to dental worms, believ-
ing them to be one of the principal and most fre(|uent causes of odon-
raigia. I kill rhcin he recommends the usual fumigations and several