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DEEPLY-SEATED ABCESSES IN THE JAWS. 195
points, it more readily makes its way through the common
integuments of the face, than between the gum and lip,
which disfigures the face ; and when in the lower jaw looks
like the evil.
In the upper jaw it makes a disagreeable scar on the face
about half an inch from the nose.
These, although they may sometimes arise from diseases
of the Teeth and Gums, yet are properly the object of
common surgery ; and the Surgeon must apply to the
Dentist, if his assistance is necessary, to pull out the
Tooth, or to perform any other operation which comes
under his province.
It sometimes happens that the abcess is situated some
way from the root of the diseased Tooth, both in the upper
jaw and the lower*; but, I think, more frequently in the
lower. («) When it threatens to open externally on the skin
of the face, great care should be taken to prevent it, and an
opening very early made into the swelling on the inside of
the lip ; for it is generally very readily felt there. This

(u) [When an abscess is situated at a short distance from a tooth,
the state of the gum around it, and the actual condition of the tooth
will generally point to its true source. Harris, however, mentions a
case where the patient had been troubled with dropping of pus from
behind the curtain of the palate for about twelve months. Becoming
alarmed, she consulted her physician, who satisfied himself that it arose
from the socket of a diseased tooth ; and after passing his finger around
on the gums, covering the superior alveolar border, discovered a pro-
tuberance over the root of each upper central incisor, nearly as large as
a hazel nut. Upon the removal of the teeth, the discharge of matter
ceased. (1)
The same writer mentions another instance in which pus had escaped
from the socket of a first superior molar, to about the centre of the
palatine arch, thence passed up into the posterior nares, and was dis-
charged from behind the velum palati.j

(1) The Principles and Practice of Dental Surgery. By Chapin A. Harris,
M.D., D.D.S. 5th Edit., p. 465.