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DENTAL MEDICINE. ;
18
a destructive influence upon the tissues. Some medicinal agents
afFcct the nervous system, and others are so irritant in their effect^
as to cause their speedy expulsion ; while others, again, have a
particular affinity for certain organs, and are eliminated by them,
the effect ceasing as soon as the evacuation is completed. Other
medicinal agents prevent septic decomposition, and the growth
of micro-organisms.
What are known as topical or external remedies act directly
upon the parts to which they are applied, and their general effects
are produced through the nervous system.
The methods of treatment which have for their objects the
prevention, and relief of pain, and the cure of disease, include
preventive or prophylactic treatment, which embraces all hvgienic
conditions which will obviate any tendencv to disease, prevent its
extending to others, and the employment of antiseptic agents
for example, in dental practice attention to the hygiene of the
oral cavity, which consists in keeping the teeth and associate
parts clean, and preventing dental caries, and affections of the
oral mucous membrane : also palliative treatment, which affords
relief from pain, such as that of odontalgia, neuralgia of dental
origin, etc.; also curative treatment, which eradicates the disease
completely ; for example, in dental practice the proper prepara-
tion and filling of carious cavities, the cure of alveolar abscesses,
alveolar pyorrhoea, etc.
The indications for treatment will depend upon the nature and
location of the affection, and the symptoms present. The con-
dition of vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys, also
influences the treatment ; for example, in the administration of
anzesthetics.
Medicines enter the circulation by either external application or
internal administration. Externally by such methods as the epi-
dermic^ or by inunction— the application of medicines to the skin
by rubbing or friction ; the en-epidermic^—the application of plas-
ters, poultices, lotions, etc., to the skin ; the endermic^—the appli-
cation of a blister, which is followed by that of a medicine to
the raw surface thus produced ; the hypodermic^—the injection of
medicines into the skin and mucous membrane to obtain a more