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THE DECAY OF THE TEETH BY DENUDATION. 183

Those whom I have known, have not been able to attribute
this disease to any cause ; none of them had ever done anything
particular to the Teeth, nor was there in appearance anything
particular in the constitution, which could give rise to such a
disease. In the first of these cases, the person was about forty ;
in the last, about twenty years of age.
From its attacking certain Teeth rather than others, in the
same head, and a particular part of the Tooth, I suspect it to
be an original disease of the Tooth itself; and not to depend
on accident, way of life, constitution, or any particular manage-
ment of the Teeth, (p)

(o) [The peculiar wearing away of the teeth, which Hunter has desig-
nated by the term Denudation, is most frequently confined to the six
front teeth, hut it may extend to the bicuspids and first molar. It
usually commences at the necks of the teeth, and takes a horizontal
direction, but Hunter is correct in saying that it may commence on the
labial surfaces of the crowns, and that the enamel may be worn away
in a longitudinal direction. The writer has seen the anterior surfaces
of all the front teeth, upper and under, bevelled off, so that the crowns
of the teeth were perfectly wedge-shaped with the narrow edge directed
towards the interior of the mouth.
Mr. Bell has figured in his work on the teeth a case in which the
greater portion of the crowns of the six anterior teeth was worn away, the
destructive process having commenced on the cutting edge of the teeth
and proceeded towards the necks until nearly half or one third of the
crowns had disappeared. A similar case was under the notice of the
writer for some years, and although the front teeth had not come in con-
tact with each other since the commencement of the denuding process,
the destructive action continued slowly to destroy the crowns until they
were nearly level with the gums. It is also to be remarked that in both
jaws the teeth were more acted upon towards the labial than the lingual
surface, and the edges were rounded and not sharp.
Two theories have been put forth to account for this peculiar wearing
away of the teeth ; the one regards it as the result of a mechanical, the
other of a chemical action. In the case recorded by Mr. Bell, and in the one
last referred to, the side teeth of the upper and under jaws had not only
come in direct contact with each other, but had worn their antagonists away,
although not much beyond what is often met with in the mouths of many
persons who are advanced in life, but as lias been previously stated, a con-
siderable space existed between the incisors and canines. Even supposing