Page 87 - An essay on the diseasesof the jaws, and their treatment

DISEASES OF THE JAWS. 65 POST MORTEM EXAMINATION. On the 28th of May, Mr. Pearsc and myself obtained per- mission from the parents to examine the mouth of the deceased. Tlie suppuration of the diseased cavity of the under jaw was found to have greatly decreased ; the expansion of the osseous parts was much diminished, and granulation had taken place to a very considerable extent in the affected structures. On the left side of the upper jaw, the healthy appearance of the gums showed that the progress of the disease of the antrum had been suspended, no trace of inflammation remaining. The gums and sockets of the upper and under jaws on the right side were found in a perfectly healthy state, the alveoli nearly absorbed, and the parts whence the teeth had been ex- tracted almost completely cicatrized. A due consideration of the above facts cannot fail to show' the propriety of the treatment which had been adopted; and there can be no doubt that the patient would have been rescued from the jaws of certain death, and cured of a distressing malady often or twelve years standing, had not the patient been cut off by the intervention of a general malady, which at that time, as already stated, was very prevalent in the neighbourhood, and, as Mr. Pcarse informed me, proved fatal to many others, as well as to this patient, amongst the number of whom was the uncle of tlie deceased.