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58 Inaugural Dissertation.
tooth from the action of external agents, this fang does not act
as a foreign body, but will frequently last ten, twenty, or thirty
years, and even more.
Second—When caries has extended to the pulp of a tooth, if
it be destroyed, and the tooth securely plugged, it will often
remain firm and healthy in its socket for many years, provid-
ed it be a tooth favorable to be operated on, the fangs healthy,
and its periosteum not inflamed. Of the truth of this, we have
abundant testimony.
Third—The cavity in the teeth of old persons, is frequently
obliterated by a deposite of ossific matter, and this is always
the case when they are very much worn down yet these
;
teeth, although their internal organization is destroyed, do not
act as foreign bodies.
Fourth—On the contrary, in the diseases of the gum and
sockets, when the teeth are protruding and hang loose by the
end of the fangs, the internal membrane is frequently as heal-
thy and sensitive as ever.
It is said by all writers on the teeth, that whenever the
internal membrane of a tooth is destroyed, the vitality of that
tooth is also destroyed, and that it is a foreign and extraneous
body in its socket ; but we apprehend the preceding facts prove
this idea to be a mistaken notion ; and that the fangs them-
selves possess a sufficiency of the vital principle, to prevent
them from acting as foreign bodies, as long as their periosteum
remains healthy. The vascular periosteum is firmly attached
; and, when
to the fangs, either by sanguiferous or other fibres
inflammation has disorganized this connexion, then, and not
till then, such teeth or fangs become foreign and extraneous
bodies.*
* This pathological fact, though it may be looked upon as trivial, is,
nevertheless of much importance in the judicious practice of dental sur-
gery, as it is evident that the dentist must be governed in his operations,
by his views of the organization and structure of the teeih. Mr. Fox
thought of curing aching teeth (the pain arising from the nerve) by dis-
location, so as to rupture the nerve and blood-vessels entering the fangs
;