Page 865 - My FlipBook

CALCIFICATIONS OF THE DENTAL PULP. 875

if it may be so termed, will be discussed in connection with the
illustrations.
Heretofore there seems to have been no effort to distinguish between
these formations and the pulp-nodule. To my mind, the distinction is
important in the pathological sense. The presence of a few pulp-nod-
ules in a tooth is of very little significance so far as the future health
of the pulp is concerned. We find no degeneration of the tissues of
the pulp associated with them, unless, indeed, there are other causes
of ill health of the organ. But tissue-calcification is uniformly asso-
ciated with degeneration of the uncalcified tissues of the pulp. It is true
that pulp-nodules may be seen in pulps that are rapidly undergoing the
l)rocesses of degeneration, and may also be included within these calcifi-
cations. When once formed they do not disappear, and they will be
connected with any diseased condition which may afterward overtake
the organ. On the other hand, tissue-calcifications are never met with
in healthy tissue.
In Fig. 471, I have illustrated a case of calcification which seems to
include within it the form-elements of an inflamed pulp. At A, I have

A, Diagram of a Section of a Central Incisor, w itli .i proximal decay at a which seems to have pene-
trated the original pulp-chamber, but the opening is closed by a calcification at h. c marks the
position of a detached mass of calcific material th:it was lost in mounting the section.
B, Illustration showing the Appearance of the Calcific Deposit. This seems to be a calcification of
indamed or cicatricial tissue. At a there is the appearance of a blood-vessel ; b, pulp.
represented, diagrammatically, a central incisor with a proximal decay
at a which opeiis the original pulp-cavity. This opening is closed by
a calcific mass at 6. At c there was a large elongated mass unattached
to the walls of the pulp-chamber which was lost in mounting the sec-
tion after it was ground At B, I give an illustration of a field of the
mass b \n A, in which the form-elements appear quite distinctly. At a
there is the api^earance of a blood-vessel with its branches. My suppo-
sition is that this calcification occurred after the exposure of the pulp by
decay and inflammation of the ])ulp-tissue, and that for the time, no
doubt, the pulp was protected. But in the formation of this protective