Page 326 - My FlipBook

304 THIRD PERIOD—MODERN TIMES

correction of dental irregularities. Lastly, it is to be noted that this
author frequently had recourse, as a remedy against toothache, to the
stretching of the dental nerve by means of moving and partially raising
the tooth (subluxation).
A. Westphal. In proof of the great utility of lancing the gums in
cases of difficult dentition, A. Westphal reports a case in which the difficult
eruption of an upper canine tooth provoked considerable inflammation
and protrusion of the eye on the same side as the tooth; these symptoms
promptly disappeared, however, as soon as the gum was lanced down to
the tooth itself.^
Bertin also declares himself in favor ot this operation; he recom-
J.
mends never to neglect it in cases of difficult dentition, and to make the
said incisions deep and wide enough.-
L. H. RuNGE, a surgeon of Bremen, published, in 1750, a monograph on
the diseases of the frontal and maxillary sinuses. He says that in cases
of inflammation of Highmore's antrum, the pus may make its way, cor-
roding the bone, as far as the alveoli, or, sometimes, as far as the orbital
cavity; and,^'/V^ versa, alveolar suppuration can give rise, by diff^usion,
to abscess of the maxillary sinus. In this latter, tumors of various kinds
may form (polypi, cysts, sarcomas, cancers, exostosis), the existence of
which is ignored at first, and onlv becomes manifest tardily. Runge's
father, who was also a surgeon, had occasion to observe, and to treat
an important case of disease of the maxillary sinus, with considerable
dilatation of the same, not only on the side of the cheek, but also on the
side of the palate and of the nasal fossae. With a strong scalpel he per-
forated the outer wall of the antrum above the molars (keeping the cheek
detached) and enlarged the aperture by making the instrument turn
around on its own axis, thus giving exit to a considerable quantity of non-
purulent liquid. Detersive and aromatic injections were used for some
time. The canine tooth, situated obliquely, having been extracted, its
alveolus was found to communicate with the antrum. From this moment,
the injections being continued, a rapid improvement was obtained and the
patient was so completely cured that no deformity of the face remained.
Runge relates a case in which, having extracted a canine tooth, he found
a cyst adhering to its root. From this he is induced to believe that in the
case related above the disorder was also to be attributed to a large cyst
having its origin in the root of the canine.
According to him, the ozena always stands in relation to a suppurative
affection of the maxillary sinus, and for its treatment one must, therefore,
have recourse to Drake's operations.'

' Sprc-rifrel, Part -'
ii, p, ^icj. Journal de Metlecine, 1756.
^
' L. H. lounge.
De Moibis sinuuiii ossis tVontis, inaxilke superioris, etc., I^intel, 1750.