Page 287 - My FlipBook

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTl M) 2C.o
not ordinarih regenerated. Tliis nia\ he possible, Iiowcnct, it' the ucrnis
in question exist, and, indeed, the author observed two jursoiis in both ot
whom a large molar had been regenerated in the phue of rlu- one which
had to be extracted.
Fauchard gives an excellent description ot the- aUcoli and ot rlu- roots
ot the teeth; he alludes to the varieties which these larrer ma\ present,
and to the importance ot the same from the point of view of extraction.
Thus, speaking ot the molars, he says: "Their roots sometimes touch
one another at the points, whilst at the base, close to the body of the tooth,
they are far apart. These are the so-called Jrtits hanrs (barred teeth),
which it is so difficult to extract, it being unavoidable to bring away
together with the tooth the spong\' osseous part occup\ing the interval
between the roots."
In this same chapter the author calls our attention to some anomalies
worthy of note. He says that he has observed teeth that seemed to him
to be derived from the union of two or three germs. He also relates that
a colleague of his showed him a tooth that appeared to be formed b\ the
union of two, between the roots of which was a third tooth whose crown
was united to the vault formed by the roots of the first two.
Fauchard describes exactly the pulp cavity and the root canals, and
speaks of their gradual restriction, ending in an almost entire disappear-
ance in old age.^ He treats of the nerves, of the arteries, and of the veins
of the teeth in a most detailed manner; then, after alluding to their general
structure, he goes on to speak ot the microscopic constitution of the
enamel, following in this the description given of it in 1699 b\- the acade-
mician La Hire.
In regard to the development of the teeth, Fauchard repeats what
Urbain Hemard had previously written. He apparentlv ignores the
researches of the Italian anatomists, from whom, and especiallv from
Eustachius, Urbain Hemard had literalK' reproduced all that concerns
odontogeny.
In the second chapter Fauchard speaks "of the maladies of children at
the period of teething and of the remedies best adapted thereto." Among
other means of treatment, he advises the incision of the gum when this
is red, swollen, and distended and the tooth below it can be felt. For
the incisors and canines a simple incision ought to be made in the same
curve as the dental arch; for the molars a crosswise incision should be
made directly dow^n to the tooth below% taking care not to leave any strips
of uncut gingival tissue, lest these, being distended by the emerging tooth,
should continue to be the cause of pain and other morbid phenomena.
Although Fauchard does not tell us anything substantially new about

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