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?2 Diseases of the Teeth.
the scurvy, &c, generally affects the roots of the teeth, often
the internal surface
; sometimes the external, and even the
inward cavity of the body." Treatise on the Teeth, by Barth.
JRuspini. Page 55. London.
Most of the above quotations, except that from Mr. Hunter,
(whose mighty genius did not permit him to think the teeth
beneath bis notice, nor to neglect to set us an example, in
this respect, worthy of imitation by the medical fraternity
•,
but which has been sadly neglected by it,) are from the pens
of very eminent surgeon dentists ; men of finished education
and scientific acquirements; we might carry them much far-
ther; but these are enough to show, that the opinions as to
causes of caries are various ; and that many of these opinions
have been hazarded, without a proper consideration of the phy-
siology and pathology of the teeth, the only sure guides to the
aetiology* of any disease.
It is indeed surprising, that such opposite opinions should be
entertained by scientific men, as to the causes of a disease,
which appears to us to be as easy of demonstration, as any
problem in Euclid.
If the vascularity of the teeth be admitted, of the certainty
of which, we believe no one can doubt, after what has been
said on the subject, the problem is at once solved.
First—The theory of the origin of internal caries, advanced
by Mr. Fox, (namely, inflammation of the bony structure of
the teeth,) as modified by Thomas Bell, satisfactorily ac-
counts for all the phenomena of internal caries.
S'condly—The theory of the causes of external caries, (the
chemical action of foreign matter and corrosive menstrua,)
also, first advanced by Mr. Fox, afterwards embraced, as the
exclusive cause of both species of decay, by Mr. L. S. Parmlv,
satisfactorily explains the phenomena of external caries.
In order to establish these positions, it will be necessary to
* /Etiology. The causes of disease, the doctrine of the causes of
(
disease.
?2 Diseases of the Teeth.
the scurvy, &c, generally affects the roots of the teeth, often
the internal surface
; sometimes the external, and even the
inward cavity of the body." Treatise on the Teeth, by Barth.
JRuspini. Page 55. London.
Most of the above quotations, except that from Mr. Hunter,
(whose mighty genius did not permit him to think the teeth
beneath bis notice, nor to neglect to set us an example, in
this respect, worthy of imitation by the medical fraternity
•,
but which has been sadly neglected by it,) are from the pens
of very eminent surgeon dentists ; men of finished education
and scientific acquirements; we might carry them much far-
ther; but these are enough to show, that the opinions as to
causes of caries are various ; and that many of these opinions
have been hazarded, without a proper consideration of the phy-
siology and pathology of the teeth, the only sure guides to the
aetiology* of any disease.
It is indeed surprising, that such opposite opinions should be
entertained by scientific men, as to the causes of a disease,
which appears to us to be as easy of demonstration, as any
problem in Euclid.
If the vascularity of the teeth be admitted, of the certainty
of which, we believe no one can doubt, after what has been
said on the subject, the problem is at once solved.
First—The theory of the origin of internal caries, advanced
by Mr. Fox, (namely, inflammation of the bony structure of
the teeth,) as modified by Thomas Bell, satisfactorily ac-
counts for all the phenomena of internal caries.
S'condly—The theory of the causes of external caries, (the
chemical action of foreign matter and corrosive menstrua,)
also, first advanced by Mr. Fox, afterwards embraced, as the
exclusive cause of both species of decay, by Mr. L. S. Parmlv,
satisfactorily explains the phenomena of external caries.
In order to establish these positions, it will be necessary to
* /Etiology. The causes of disease, the doctrine of the causes of
(
disease.
