Page 96 - My FlipBook
P. 96
: —
.76 Diseases of the Teeth.
ratio of our age, is our irritability and the susceptibility of our
our systems to inflammation and febrile excitement dimin-
ished.
Mr. Bell denies that foreign matter, or any thing that col-
lects about the teeth, or is generated in the mouth, can be a
cause of caries otherwise than as an inflammatory agent : that
these cannot act chemically On the enamel of the teetb, as they
have a less affinity for lime, than phosphoric acid has. But
these assertions are certainly contrary to facts and observa-
tion : all foreign matter, aided by the action of the saliva,
particularly if it be vitiated, will gradually erode and decom-
pose the enamel, and cause the bone of the teeth to decay ;
this is proved by the following facts
The enamel next to the gum, if it has been covered with
tartar for a length of time, is always found discolored, rough
and decomposing.
Persons who neglect their teeth, and allow large quantities
of tartar to collect about them, and the particles of food
which lodge in their interstices during meal lime to remain
and undergo decomposition, are much more liable to have
them decay, or their contiguous and lateral surfaces, than
those who keep them free of these agents.
It does indeed seem surprising, prima fuck, that such should
be the case but when we consider that solvent power of the
;
gastric juice— that it will decompose the hardest bone submit-
ted to its action, and that the saliva is analogous in its compo-
sition—that the hardest animal substances, of which artificial
teeth are made, will be rapidly decomposed in the mouth
that most metallic substances are rapidily oxidized, when ex-
posed to the action of the saliva—that plates of silver and gold,
to which artificial teeth are attached, the latter not acted upon
by nitric acid, soon become black or tarnished in the mouth,
and that leaves of these metals, when triturated with saliva,
soon become oxidized, although they are so difficult of oxida-
tion ; our surprise vanishes, and we are compelled to yield to
the abundant testimony of almost every observer.
.76 Diseases of the Teeth.
ratio of our age, is our irritability and the susceptibility of our
our systems to inflammation and febrile excitement dimin-
ished.
Mr. Bell denies that foreign matter, or any thing that col-
lects about the teeth, or is generated in the mouth, can be a
cause of caries otherwise than as an inflammatory agent : that
these cannot act chemically On the enamel of the teetb, as they
have a less affinity for lime, than phosphoric acid has. But
these assertions are certainly contrary to facts and observa-
tion : all foreign matter, aided by the action of the saliva,
particularly if it be vitiated, will gradually erode and decom-
pose the enamel, and cause the bone of the teeth to decay ;
this is proved by the following facts
The enamel next to the gum, if it has been covered with
tartar for a length of time, is always found discolored, rough
and decomposing.
Persons who neglect their teeth, and allow large quantities
of tartar to collect about them, and the particles of food
which lodge in their interstices during meal lime to remain
and undergo decomposition, are much more liable to have
them decay, or their contiguous and lateral surfaces, than
those who keep them free of these agents.
It does indeed seem surprising, prima fuck, that such should
be the case but when we consider that solvent power of the
;
gastric juice— that it will decompose the hardest bone submit-
ted to its action, and that the saliva is analogous in its compo-
sition—that the hardest animal substances, of which artificial
teeth are made, will be rapidly decomposed in the mouth
that most metallic substances are rapidily oxidized, when ex-
posed to the action of the saliva—that plates of silver and gold,
to which artificial teeth are attached, the latter not acted upon
by nitric acid, soon become black or tarnished in the mouth,
and that leaves of these metals, when triturated with saliva,
soon become oxidized, although they are so difficult of oxida-
tion ; our surprise vanishes, and we are compelled to yield to
the abundant testimony of almost every observer.
