Page 29 - My FlipBook

INTRODUCTION.
and parts too, intimately connected with the living human
system by virtue of that life, and of their functions.
Thus, we trust, that it will be made to appear evident
in the sequel, that to practice dental surgery with success,
a man must possess a knowledge of the animal economy, of
its functions, of its diseases which influence the parts upon
which he operates, and of the effects of the diseases of these
parts upon the general system, operating through sympathy,
or through painful irritation upon it : and a knowledge of
the surgical and curative means sufficient to avoid all
harsh and unnecessary infliction of pain, all unnecessary
aggravation of irritation of diseased parts, and to be able to
apply the most approved remedies for the mitigation of pain,
and for the arrest of disease.
That there should be entertained by community, a con-
trariety of views relative to the requisite care of the teeth
;
to their diseases and to the query of who may, and who
may not, with safety, be permitted to treat them, is not at all
surprising, in the present state of the dental profession ;
and more especially, when we reflect that the art of expel-
ling caires from the mouth, and effectually preserving teeth
that have suffered even considerable from its ravages, by
operation, is, to many, a new thing ; that generally, public
attention has been directed more to artificial teeth, than to
the preservation of the natural ones ; and that so far as
operations have been submitted to, a great majority of them
have been performed by persons too little versed either in"
the principles or practice of the profession, to ensure suc-
cess ; and that the discrepencies of opinions, views, modes
of practice and representations relative to the teeth, held
out to patients, by such a discordant, untaught, assuming
set of practitioners, should increase the embarrassment, and