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342 THIRD PERIOD—MODERN TIMES
Bunon studied with great accuracy the means of preventing anomalous
positions of the permanent teeth, owing, according to him, almost always
to want of space. In certain cases he advises the extraction of the milk
tooth in order to facilitate the eruption of the permanent one, and, necessity
urging, he does not hesitate to sacrifice one of the permanent teeth to
procure the advantage of a normal position of the others. With regard
to this subject, the following passage is worthy of note, for in it we find
sketched out the theory of preventive extraction as a means of facilitating
the eruption of the wisdom tooth: "It is better to have the teeth incom-
plete as to number than to have the ordinary number badly arranged;
for the mouth will appear none the less well furnished because of having
one or two teeth the less; the other teeth will be commodiously distributed,
and the last molars will find sufficient room when they come forth; thus,
the disorders which these teeth often occasion will be avoided."^
After caries, Bunon considers dental tartar as the most potent enemy
to the vitality of the teeth. He distinguishes three principal species:
the black, the lemon or light yellow, and the brownish yellow; however,
he allows of two other varieties of less frequent occurrence, the red and
the green tartar.
At a period when an extraordinary confusion obtained with regard to
gingivitis, because of the great number of varieties allowed, Bunon strongly
affirms the unity of this morbid process, and considers tartar as the con-
stant cause of it, without denying, however, that other causes of various
kinds may contribute at the same time to produce it.
In cases of scorbutic stomatitis, Bunon advises, and very rightly,
the complete removal of tartar from the teeth before having recourse to
any other local treatment. He also insists on the necessity of attending
to the teeth and gums, and especially of freeing the former from tartar
before undertaking the specific treatment of syphilis, considering the good
state of the teeth and gums as one of the most important prophylactic
measures against mercurial stomatitis.
Anyone who takes the trouble of reading Bunon's w^orks attentively
cannot help admiring his depth of insight, his spirit of observation, his
exquisite clinical sense, and his ingenuity. As illustrating this last quality
of his, we may cite two cases of fracture of the lower jaw that he succeeded
In curing in a short time by the method of binding the teeth, the preceding
attempts of experienced surgeons having entirely tailed. One ot these
cases is particularly interesting. The seat of the fracture corresponded
with the bicuspids, which, however, had fallen out from the effects of
trauma; the neighboring teeth were also loosened. Bunon filled the empty
space left by the bicuspids with a piece of ivory, provided with two holes;

* Essay, p. 127.