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40 HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY

WORMS IN THE TEETH.
"Occasionally worms are found in the earies of the teeth, in the slime or in
the tartar, which are called teeth worms. Distinguished writers have men-
tioned tliese. I have never seen them, but will admit them as not being impos-
sible, but 1 mention that these worms do not eat the teeth and make them
carious, that they are only present, if at all, because the foods or the badly
conditioned saliva may have deposited ova of noxious insects in the caries of
the teeth in which they have been mixed with the food remnants, and that
these ova, after having been so deposited, have been incubated and tlie
worms may then have made their appearance. Be this as it may, these wonns
are not the only cause that we have to struggle against under these condi-
tions, and, therefore, it is not necessary if they are present to give them aiiy
particular looking after. The populace and some writers have mentioned
that all toothache and caries are caused by teeth worms, and that these worms
gradually eat up the tissues of the body and nervous fibres. If this were so,
it would be easy to give an explanation of the pain which accompanies the
caries of the teeth, and much labor would be spared the natural scientist.
"Eiverius, a Physician of Montpelier, in his medical work ascribes as a
cause for toothache worms which are generated in the caries of the teeth.
Audry relates that the worms have been seen under the magnifying glass under
a crust or rind, which has been accumulated in the uncleanliness of the teeth,
and that these worms are exceedingly small, that they have a round head which
is marked with a black point, that their body is long and narrow, similar
in shape to the worms which are seen by means of the magnifying glass in
vinegar. He adds to this that these worms develop an evil odor while they
disintegrate the teeth."'
Fauchard expresses the opinion that it is an error to imagine that severe
toothaches are caused by worms. "1 have done what I could to see these with
my own eyes," he writes. "I have used the very best magnifying glasses obtain-
able, and have made many examinations with these of carious or freshly ex-
tracted teeth and of tartar matter of differing consistency which surrounded
the teeth, but I have never succeeded in seeing these worms. Teeth frequently
become carious from internal causes, so tliat one could hardly have the belief
that worms could be the cause of such carious condition because the enamel and
the upper surface remains uninjured and without change."