Page 9 - My FlipBook

THE CAUSES AND RELIEF OF DENTAL

PAIN.

In studying the causes of toothache one must bear in
mind the various structures of which a tooth is com-
posed, and the surrounding tissues with which it is in
close relation. A tooth may be regarded as a hard,

mi yielding box, enclosing a highly sensitive and vascular
pulp or " nerve " as it is commonly called.
The portion of tooth which is implanted in the jaw is
more or less conical in shape and closely surrounded by

its bony socket, which is therefore a hollow cone.
Between the root and the socket is a fibrous mem-
brane known as the "dental periosteum," in which a
capillary network ramifies for the nutrition of the socket

and the external surface of the root ; and through this
membrane pass the blood-vessels that enter the pulp.
Irritation applied to any vascular tissue produces
hyperemia, which may be but transitory or pass into the

condition of inflammation if the irritant be not speedily
removed.
It is important, therefore, to distinguish two different
sources of the pain of toothache according as the pulp or

the dental periosteum is the part primarily affected, for
on the correctness of diagnosis will depend the chance
of successful treatment.

Inflammation of the pulp.— The hyperaemia of the