Page 207 - My FlipBook

THE SIXTEENTH CEXTL R)' l'.)7
be rubbed wirh a lirrle a(]iia torns and a(|iia \ it;e mixed roucrlur, ro rake
a\va\- what the instruments ha\i.' not been abk- to remoxe. In order to
preserve the teeth it is necessar\ , besides, to rub the teeth frecjuentlv
Among these the author mentions simple
with appropriate dentifrices .
bread crust, burnt and reduced to powder.
In Chapter III of Book XVII he speaks of artiticial teeth. Sometimes,
saws Pare, b\ the effect of a blow, the front teeth are lost; this not onl\
constitutes a deformit\, but is also the cause of defects of speech. Tlure-
fore, after the necessar\- treatment, when the jrums are hardened, the
lost teeth must be substituted with artificial ones made out of bone,
ivorv, or the teeth of the Ro/iart,^ which are excellent for this purpose;
and the artificial teeth must be tied to the neighboring ones with gold or
silver wire.
Chapter IV of the same book is most important, for palatal obturators
are therein spoken of for the first time. "Sometimes a portion of the
bone of the palate is destroyed bv the shot of an arquebus, or bv some

Fir;. 64

The palatine obturator with sponge of Anibroise Pare.

Other wound or b\' a s\philitic ulcer (par ulcere de verole), the patients
being thereby disabled from properh' pronouncing words and from
making themselves understood. To repair this defect we have found an
expedient through the help and ministry of our art. It consists in the
application of an instrument somewhat larger than the palatal perfora-
tion; this is made of gold or silver, of about the thickness of a crown (coin),
and has the form of a vaulted roof, to which a sponge is attached; when
introduced into the aperture, the sponge, absorbing the humidit\- natural
to such parts, will ver\ soon swell up, and thus the instrument is held firm.
In this wa\-, words are better pronounced."
Besides the above instrument, the author gives us the figure of another
instrument, sans esponge (without sponge), which, taken altogether,
is like a large cuff" button. The small part, designed to be introduced

An old French word meanine perhaps hippopotamus.