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THE SKVKNTEIiWTH CENTURY 241

with iiK'tallic suhsraiices, it is ncNcr so |Hrtc-ct as to ciitirc-l\ impccK- tlic
penetration ot moisture.
Great credit is due to Kornelis tor liaxing Hrst broui^ln into usage
the instrument makers' emer\' wlieels for grindinti down sharp edges
ot teeth, thus initiating the jiractice ot trepanmng the rcerh with sphere-
shaped burs.'
P.AUL WiRFUHiN refers to a case of extcnsixc necrosis of the lower
jaw, in which a certain Dr. l^inlin ha\ing remoxed the necrotic portion,
regeneration of the bone took place.
Friederich Dekkers (1648 to 1730) refers a similar case, in which,
although quite one-half of the lower jaw had been removed, the bone
formed again completely.^
Benjamin Martin, apothecarx to the Prince de Conde, was the
author of a pamphlet on the teeth,' in which he gave a succinct descrip-
tion of these organs and spoke briefly of their diseases. He shows him-
self decidedly opposed to the use of the file and to the application of false
teeth, because, according to him, both of these things mav be the cause
of great harm. With regard to the file, he savs that nothing so easily
tends to loosen the teeth as the use of this instrument, not to speak of
various other inconveniences, among which is the danger of opening the
interior cavity of the tooth.*
Matthias Gottfried Purmann (1648 to 1721), a celebrated surgeon
of Breslau, was the first to make mention of models in dental prosthesis.
As to the mode in which these models were obtained, some admit as
natural that he first took a cast, and formed the model on this; but as
Purmann does not hint in the least at such a process, the supposition is
altogether gratuitous. Indeed, his description rather excludes any prob-
ability that the model was taken from a cast. Here is the literal trans-
lation, as nearly as possible, of the passage in which Purmann speaks
of artificial teeth and of the mode of applying them.
"The front teeth, or pronouncing teeth, ought, when they are wanting,
to be substituted by artificial ones, in order to avoid defects of pronunci-
ation, as well as to obviate deformity of the mouth, and this is carried out
in the following manner: One has other teeth made of bone, or of ivory,
according to the number, the size, and the proportions of those wanting;
for which purpose one may previously have a model executed in wax,
reproducing the particular conditions of the teeth and jaws, in order
afterward to make and exactly adjust the whole on the pattern of it;
then, when the base of these teeth is well fitted on the jaw^ and small

' Soolingen's Manuale operaticn der cliirurgie, Amsterdam, 1684.
" Sprengel, op. cit., p. 300.
* Dissertation sur les dents, a Paris Chez Den\s Ihierry, MDCLXXIX.
* Portal, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 361.
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