Page 205 - My FlipBook
P. 205
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To ike Animal Economy. 145
require such treatment* will not only benefit the health of the
mother but of the child.
" In the year 1819, in the presence of William P. Dewees,
M. D. and Lecturer of Midwifery, &c. of Philadelphia, I ex-
tracted fifteen decayed and dead teeth and roots in the space
of twenty-five minutes, from the mouth of a lady who was, I
believe, in the fifth month of her pregnancy, and the result
was immediate relief and eventual benefit to the health of the
mother, and impunity to the life and health of the child.
" This case and many others which occurred under the im-
mediate observation of two of the most eminent accoucheurs
of the United States, viz. Nath. Chapman, M. D. and Prof,
of the I'nstit. and Prac. of Medicine in the University of
Pennsylvania, and Dr. Dewees, whom I have already men-
tioned, had in a great measure the effect of removing the pre-
judice against dental operations during pregnancy from the
minds of the liberal members of the Medical Faculty in Phi-
ladelphia ; a prejudice too frequently entertained, not only by
the public at large, but by physicians and surgeons ; and
generally productive of much suffering to the mother, and no
doubt of injury to her child yet unborn.
" The effect of such a treatment depends in a great measure
on the judgment and skill of the dentist ; and in the absence
of the required skill and judgment, the individual would ne-
cessarily be exposed to the danger of the malpractices of Den-
tal Surgery, and especially of the barbarous methods in which
the various operations are so frequently performed.
"In the conduct of such operations, it would be the obvious
duty of the dentist to watch carefully the immediate effects
of such operations, both upon the mind and upon the body
of his patients, and to judge how far their powers might be
capable of supporting the unavoidable irritation and pain
produced by them ; a duty, however, of which the perfor-
mance could not be reasonably expected from a mechanical
and ignorant operalor." KoecJcer page 137.
We think the above observations of Mr. Koecker very judi-
8*
To ike Animal Economy. 145
require such treatment* will not only benefit the health of the
mother but of the child.
" In the year 1819, in the presence of William P. Dewees,
M. D. and Lecturer of Midwifery, &c. of Philadelphia, I ex-
tracted fifteen decayed and dead teeth and roots in the space
of twenty-five minutes, from the mouth of a lady who was, I
believe, in the fifth month of her pregnancy, and the result
was immediate relief and eventual benefit to the health of the
mother, and impunity to the life and health of the child.
" This case and many others which occurred under the im-
mediate observation of two of the most eminent accoucheurs
of the United States, viz. Nath. Chapman, M. D. and Prof,
of the I'nstit. and Prac. of Medicine in the University of
Pennsylvania, and Dr. Dewees, whom I have already men-
tioned, had in a great measure the effect of removing the pre-
judice against dental operations during pregnancy from the
minds of the liberal members of the Medical Faculty in Phi-
ladelphia ; a prejudice too frequently entertained, not only by
the public at large, but by physicians and surgeons ; and
generally productive of much suffering to the mother, and no
doubt of injury to her child yet unborn.
" The effect of such a treatment depends in a great measure
on the judgment and skill of the dentist ; and in the absence
of the required skill and judgment, the individual would ne-
cessarily be exposed to the danger of the malpractices of Den-
tal Surgery, and especially of the barbarous methods in which
the various operations are so frequently performed.
"In the conduct of such operations, it would be the obvious
duty of the dentist to watch carefully the immediate effects
of such operations, both upon the mind and upon the body
of his patients, and to judge how far their powers might be
capable of supporting the unavoidable irritation and pain
produced by them ; a duty, however, of which the perfor-
mance could not be reasonably expected from a mechanical
and ignorant operalor." KoecJcer page 137.
We think the above observations of Mr. Koecker very judi-
8*
