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THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY \\[)\

four years ago, and worn In tin- owiur to tin- grcati-sr adx aiitaj^c\ I
have since made two others which ha\(.- jmonccI most usitul to thc' pi isoiis
wearing them. It is true that there are tew moutlis achi|ncil tor wearing
these sets, so much so that, excepting the three rctVrrcd to, 1 ha\e ne\er
made an\ others. To he ahle to construct similar sets succ(.sstull\ , the
dentist must he possessed ot skill and ingenuit\ . Apart tVom this, the\'
are the most suitahle for persons who cannot spend much, as the\- ct)st
less to make."'
Fauchard did not merel\' content himselt w ith ha\ ing perfected dental
prosthesis in the manner alluded to; he also succeeded in gi\ing a (juite
natural appearance to artificial teeth. To reach this end he placed the
art of the enameller under contribution to the dental art. Iluis he had
artificial pieces covered over with enamel, imparting to them the hue
that seemed to him best adapted, and also imitating admirably the natural
color of the gums, so as to render the illusion perfect. The pieces to be
enamelled were w'orked b\ special rules, which are minuteU' gi\en in
Chapter XIX of the second volume ot his book.
Fauchard also brought the palatme prosthesis to a high degree of per-
fection. He describes five different obturators of the palate, which of
themselves alone would be sufficient to testify to the highl\- inventive
genius of the author, although they are defective in being somewhat too
complicated. Some of these fixtures are a combination of a dental set
and palatine obturator.
We ought now to mention, in the order of chronology, some authors of
lesser importance.
Vasse and De Diest wrote about the danger of fatal hemorrhage
following on dental operations.' They report a few cases of this kind,
giving the blame of these accidents, however, to the carelessness of the
operator.
Lavini pubHshed in Florence, in the year 1740, a very good treatise
on dentistry {Trattato sopra la qualita de' denti, col modo di cavarli,
manteuerli e fortificarli), which, however, marks no advance on the work
of Fauchard.
M. BuNON (died 1749), a French dentist, wrote four admirable works
on dentistry, which w'ere published from 1741 to 1744. We will here
briefly allude to the most salient ideas therein contained.
This author combated strenuousl\- some prejudices then generally
diffused; such as that of its not being advisable to extract teeth during
pregnancy, and that of the extraction of an upper canine (eye tooth) being

' Vol. ii, p. 353.
- Jean de Diest, An liaemorrhage ex dentiuni cvulsione cliirurtji incuria krlialis: Paris,
1735. David Vasse, Haemorrfiagia ex dentium evulsione, chirurgi incuria krhalis, Pans,
1735-