Page 190 - My FlipBook

174 HUNTER ON THE TEETH.

such a power, no good purpose eoulcl be answered by it ; for a
piece of Tooth, simply dead, is almost as useful as if the whole
was living : which may be observed every day. (h)
The pain, however, appears to take its rise from the Tooth as
a centre. That it should be more severe than what is generally
produced by similar inflammations in other parts of the body,
may, perhaps, be accounted for, when we consider, that these
parts do not readily yield ; as likewise the case in whitloes.
It sometimes happens, that the mind is not directed to the
real seat of the disease, the sensation of pain not seeming to be
in the diseased Tooth, but in some neighbouring Tooth which
is perfectly sound. This has often misled operators, and the
sympathising Tooth has fallen a sacrifice to their ignorance.
In all cases of diseased Teeth, the pain is brought on by
circumstances unconnected with the disease as for instance
;
Cold, wherefore they are more troublesome commonly in winter
than in summer. Extraneous matter entering the cavity, and
touching the nerve and vessels, will also bring on the pain.
sometimes
This pain is frequently observed to be periodical ;
there being a perfect intermission, sometimes only an abatement
of it. The paroxysm comes on once in twenty four hours;
and, for the most part towards the evening. The bark has
therefore been tried ; but that failing, the disorder has been
suspected to be of the rheumatic kind, and treated accordingly

(h) [Although the teeth cannot reproduce a portion of dentine
which has once been destroyed, nature has not left them without some
means of resisting the effects of disease. The filling up of the pulp
cavity in the manner previously mentioned by the formation of new
dentine is evidently for the purpose of preserving the tooth. It is
owing to this that teeth which could not bear stopping when first seen,
may be brought into such a condition as to render the operation prac-
ticable. Many cases present themselves where, by clearing out the
decayed cavity, removing all extraneous matter, and inserting a
temporary stopping, or by inserting cotton moistened with spirit, and
renewing the application daily for a month or six weeks, a permanent
stopping can be successfully applied.]