Page 213 - My FlipBook

ABCESS OF THE ANTRUM MAXILLARE. 1<)7
not easily determined, but there is great reason to sup-
pose it an attendant, from some of the symptoms. If it he
a cause, we may suppose, that the natural mucus of these
cavities accumulating, irritates and produces inflammation
for its own exit ; in the same manner as an obstruction to
the passage of the Tears through the ductus ml Nasum,
produces an abcess of the lachrymal sac.
This inflammation of the Antrum gives a pain which
will be at the first taken for the Tooth-ach, especially
if there be a bad Tooth in that side ; however, in
these cases, the nose is more affected than commonly in
a Tooth-ach.
The eye is also affected ; and it is very common for people
with such a disease to have a severe pain in the forehead,
where the frontal finus's are placed ; but still the symptoms
are not sufficient to distinguish the disease. Time must
disclose the true cause of the pain ; for it will commonly
continue longer than that which arises from a diseased
Tooth, and will become more and more severe ; after which a
redness will be observed on the fore part of the cheek, some-
what higher than the roots of the Teeth, and a hardness in
the same place, which will be considerably circumscribed.
This hardness may be felt rather highly situated on the
inside of the lip.
As this disease has been often treated of by surgeons, I
shall only make the following remarks concerning it.
The first part of the cure, as well as that of all other
abcesses, is to make an opening, but not in the part where if
threatens to point ; for that would generally be through the
skin of the cheek.
If the disease is known early, before it has caused the
destruction of the fore part of the bone, there are two ways
of opening the abcess one by perforating the partition
;
between the antrum and the nose, which may be done by
drawing the first or second grinder of that side, and perforat-
ing the partition between the root of the alveolar process and