Page 148 - My FlipBook

122 THE MICRO-ORGANISMS OF THE HUMAN MOUTH.

pericementitiB, riimnno- its course in the middle of the dentinal
tissue and leading, as all inflammatory processes do, either to a
neAV formation or to destruction by suppuration." " Inflamma-
tion causes first a solution of the lime-salts, and afterward a
liquefaction of the l^asis-substance both in bone and dentinal
tissue. The result will be the appearance of globular spaces or
bay-like excavations which exhibit medullary corpuscles or some-
times clear protoplasmic masses corresponding to the embryonal
stage of the inflamed tissue." . . . " By the breaking apart
of these medullary corpuscles pus may be formed in the middle
of the dentine, thus representing an abscess independently of the
pulp-tissue," or, on the other hand, a healing process may take
place through the redeposition of lime-salts. The reasons given
in support of this view do not appear to me to be such as admit
of a very close examination. The first reason is simply the as-
sertion that the hardening or consolidation, sometimes believed
to take place under fillings, is " the consequence of an inflam-
matory reaction of the dentine," and further, " instances are
not rare in which the insertion of an oxyphosphate, oxychloride,
or a gold filling gives rise to excruciating pain. . . . The
latter result is due to intense and acute inflammation of the
dentine."
It is not quite clear to me how the cases stated b}' Ileitzmann
and Boedecker justif)^ the conclusions which they draw from
them. We might say that the consolidation of the dentine is
due to a continued or even increased functional activity of the
dentinal fibrils ; a number of facts might be, and have been,
brought forward in support of this statement, though some
oppose it : but to jump at once to inflammation of the dentine,
is making rather free with logic, to say the least.
Again, pain following the insertion of fillings may be due to
the mechanical or chemical insult to the exposed dentinal fibers,
or it may be due to the insult to the pulp itself. I cannot help
thinking that it is here also perfectly gratuitous to speak of
inflammation of the dentine. It is not proved by the cases
referred to.
The second argument of Heitzmann and Boedecker is based
upon the utterly mistaken idea that the ivory of elephants' tusks