Page 442 - My FlipBook

440 DENTAL MEDICINE.

camel's^hair brush or cotton on the point of an excavator. The
mouth should be kept open and the part protected until a me-
tallic pellicle is formed. Iodine is also a valuable disinfectant
and germicide in the treatment of alveolar abscess (in the form
of the compound tincture), used as injection throughout the pus
tract, and for root canals and the pus-pockets of alveolar pyor-
rhoea.
A valuable combination of iodine, carbolic acid, glycerin and
water is known as " Boulton's Preparation," and is a useful ap-
plication in the form of injections, gargles and lotions. For the
chronic form of alveolar abscess, and also for the acute form,
after more powerful agents have been employed, it is a useful
remedy, possessing antiseptic and stimulant properties in a marked
degree; it also possesses the property of modifying mucous mem-
brane and diminishing sensibility; hence it is useful in ulcer-
ations, etc. Tincture of iodine combined with creasote or car-
bolic acid is a powerful application in periodontitis, suppuration
of necrosed teeth, ulceration of margins of the gums and for
fungous growth, as it stimulates debilitated parts and destroys
such as are too weak to be restored. A colorless tincture of
iodine is composed of glycerin and aqua ammonia in combina-
tion with the iodine, but the presence of the ammonia restricts its
use. Another colorless tincture, in which sulphate of soda is
substituted for the ammonia, is less irritating in its effects.
The addition of water and honey to the officinal tincture of
iodine will render it suitable for a gargle for inflamed and ulcer-
ated parts. The iodide of potassium is employed internally in
mercurial stomatitis, dental exostosis, facial neuralgia, convul-
sions of dentition, periodontitis, looseness of the teeth, tume-
faction and sponginess of the gums, syphilitic and scrofulous
ulcerations of the mouth, caries and necrosis of the maxillary
bones.
Tincture of iodine mixed with glycerin is claimed by Dr.
Hammond to be more effective as a local application than the
plain tincture. This is due to the retardation of the dissipation
of the iodine, or more probably to the skin remaining soft, and
therefore in a better condition for absorbing the drug.