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144 Scurvy in the Gums.
great care should be taken to keep the teeth clean ; and on no
account should the re-accumulation of tartar be permitted. A
soft or hard tooth brush, and a mild or strong astringent in the
tooth powder, should be used morning and evening, according
to circumstances, also, mild or stimulating washes occasionally
throughout the day. Mr. Snell recommended camphorated
liniment to be applied to the diseased gums: we consider it to
be one of the most useful remedies that can be used, and
often prescribe it : it can be applied with a camel's hair pen-
cil or with the finger. If the teeth be brushed after every
meal with a soft brush and castile soap, the cure will be faci-
litated it will also render the mouth delightfully sweet and
;
clean.
In the complicated species of scurvy in the gum, it is neces-
sary to administer internal medicines for the removal of those
states of the system, enumerated as the predisposing causes
of the disease, in conjunction with the local treatment.*
* In order to show the effect which this disease occasionally has upon
the general system, and also the proper treatment of it, we mention two
or three cases. The following is from Mr. Koecker :
"Mr. J , a gentleman of great respectability, a native of ihis
country, but for many years a resident of Smyrna, aged about thirty-
nine, had suffered upwards of ten years from this distressing malady,
attending by all its torturing symptoms, in a most unparralleled man-
ner. His whole constitution, but pari icularly the glandular system, was
so much affected as to produce s\v !ura:ions in the most
distant parts, accompanied with great pain and inconvenience ; but its
effects on his head were frequently agonizing; indeed, he assured me,
that so great were his sufferings, that he had been driven so far to de-
spair, as to implore Heaven to relieve him by putting an end to his mis-
erable existence. He repea'i for the best medical and surgi-
cal advice that the country could afford; but the real causes of his
sufferings were not detected ; and sueh was the character of this disorder,
that it baffled every exertion and all the remedies which were applied
for many years. At ] jngih the effecs of a sea voyage and a visit to his
native country were proposed, and at the same time a trial of such re-
medial measures as li3 might be able to command in England.
" Immediately on his arrival in London, this patient consulted Mr.
Lawrence. Tn:s sagacious and disinterested surgeon soon suspected his
teeth to be the chief cause of his malady, and recommended him to have
my advice without delay, and to submit to any treatment 1 should deem
necessary and proper.
" On examining the gentleman's mouth I found his gums and all his