Page 83 - My FlipBook

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DISEASES OF THE TEETH.

1st Caries.—Two species. 1st, internal 2nd, external.
2nd. Odontitis.
3rd. Periostitis.
4th. Exostosis.
5th. Necrosis.
6th. Denuding Process of Hunter.
7th. Abrasion.
Of these diseases caries, or as Mr. Thomas Bell terms it,
gangrene of the teeth is the principal ; and as it is a disease
of very frequent occurrence in our country, we shall examine
it thoroughly.
Caries has been divided by writers upon the teeth, into su-
perficial, when the disease first makes its appearance on the
outside of a tooth—deep-seated, when it has extended to the
internal bony structure of a tooth—simple, when the disease
has not reached the internal membrane—complicated, when
it has extended to this membrane—and into internal and ex-
ternal caries. There can be no utility in this arrangement
for our purpose, as it is a sub-division of the same disease.
There are also, several species of caries, but as they originate
from the same causes, and require the same treatment, it would
be foreign and superfluous to treat of them separately ; there-