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330 THIRD PERIOD—MODERN TIMES

teeth, entitled Sur les avantages des nouvelles dents, et rateliers artificiels,
incorrupt I hies, sans odeiir.
Jean Jacques Joseph Serre (1759 to 1830). Among the dentists of
he end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth,
a special mention is due to jean Jacques Joseph Serre. He was born at
Mons, in Belgium, but his remarkable practical and scientific activity
was chiefly called into exercise in Vienna and in Berlin. He published
several works, the most important of which is a practical treatise on
dental operations.^
Among his minor works, one edited in Vienna, in 1788, treats of tooth-
ache during pregnancy; another, printed in Leipsic in 1791, treats most
extensively of diseases of the gums; a third speaks of the mode of main-
taining the teeth and gums in good condition. This little book of dental
hygiene, like the rest of Serre's books, met with great favor, and went
through two editions in a brief space of time (Berlin, 1809 to 1812).
The works of this author show great study, very wide practice, and an
admirable spirit of observation and research. They had the merit of
greatly contributing to raise the level of dental culture in Germany, and
one finds in them a pretty nearly complete account of the dentistry of
that period. Apart from this, they possess a special interest because of
the vast number of dates and important historical facts therein contained.
As it would be useless here to enter into a minute analysis of the contents
of these books, we will limit ourselves to mentioning a few ideas of which
Serre was a strenuous supporter.
He combats an old prejudice that had recently been reinforced by the
authority of Jourdain, that is, that it does harm to extract a tooth when
the soft parts around it are inflamed and swollen. He likewise combats
the prejudice, also of very ancient date, that teeth ought not to be extracted
during pregnancy. Only, he considers it as well to avoid the cauterization
of the dental pulp in cases of gestation. In extracting teeth, the forceps
ought only to be used after the tooth has been luxated by means of the
pelican. Serre highly approves of this instrument, although he recog-
nizes it to be a dangerous one in the hands of those who do not know
how to make a proper use of it. This author invented or perfected various
extracting instruments, among which a conical screw tor extraction of
roots hollowed out by caries deserves particular mention, and which,
under a somewhat modified form, is still in use.
One of the most interesting chapters of Serre's great work is the one
in which he treats of afi^ections of Highmore's cavity.^ He speaks at
length of the anatomy of the maxillary sinus, of its relation to the teeth

' I'rakrisclu- Darstclling allcr Opeiationen der Zahnarziu-ilcunst, Berlin, 1803 and 1804.
- Chapter xlii.