Page 226 - My FlipBook

CHAPTER V.

OF THE EXTRANEOUS MATTER UPON THE TEETH.
There are parts of the Tooth, which lie out of the way
of friction, viz. the angles made by two Teeth, and the
small indentation between the Tooth and Gum.
Into these places the juices are pressed and there
stagnate, giving them at first the appearance of being
stained or dirty A Tooth in this stage is generally
clean for some way from its cutting edge, towards the
gum, on account of the motion of the lips upon it, and the
pressure of the food, &c. It is also pretty clean close to
the Gum, from the motion of the loose edge of the Gum
upon that part, but this circumstance is only observable in
those who have their Gums perfectly sound ; for in others,
this loose edge of the Gum is either lost, or no longer
retains its free motion.
If art be not now used, as the natural motion of the
parts is not sufficient, the incrustation increasing covers
more and more of the Teeth. As mastication generally

the district in which the patient resides, and the history of the complaint
will afford a clue to its real nature. It is in these cases that quinine
will often give relief. Disease at the base of the brain, or in the course
of the trunk of the nerve, may constitute another cause of facial neuralgia.
These cases are sometimes very difficult to diagnose, while at other
times they are evidently accompanied by disease of the brain.]