Page 252 - My FlipBook

236 — HUNTER ON THE TEETH. —
then replaced it, first having introduced a probe into the
Socket to break down the coagulated blood which filled it.
I then tied these two Teeth to the first grinder, and the cus-
pidatus with silk, which was kept on some days, and then
removed. After a month they were as fast as any Teeth in
the head ; and, if it were not for the remembrance of the
circumstances above related, the gentleman would not be
sensible that his Teeth had met with any accident. Four
years have now passed since it happened, (e)

(e) [Several cases are recorded where a sound tooth extracted acci-
dentally has been replaced and has afterwards continued in a healthy
state. The success ol such an operation will materially depend upon
the age and constitution of the patient as shown by the history of the
following cases :
"The two following instances of the replacement of a sound tempo-
rary tooth in the lower jaw that had been accidentally but unavoidably
removed in extracting a fang level with the gum and overlapped by the
neighbouring bicuspid tooth well illustrates .vhat has been said above
of the effects of constitution in modifying disease :
" Both patients were females, between fifteen and sixteen years of age,
and in both cases it was a lower bicuspid which was returned to its
socket. The one girl was of a bright, clear, somewhat florid complexion,
having all the appearance of perfect health, and resided in London ; the
other lived in the country, but the countenance was pallid, the skin
delicate and transparent, the stature below the average, and although she
was free from any special disease, her general appearance was anything
but healthy.
" In the first case the extracted tooth was rinsed in warm water, it
having fallen on the floor, and immediately replaced in its socket, the
patient being directed to call the next day. Accidental circumstances
prevented my seeing this patient for more than three mouths, when one
morning she brought a younger sister to the Dispensary. Upon enquir-
ing after the tooth that had been replaced, she informed me it was a
little tender for a day or two but that soon went off, and now she
knew no difference between it and any of her other teeth, nor could I
myself detect any alteration in its appearance any more than if it had
never been removed from its socket, thrown upon the sandy floor,
washed, and replaced in the mouth.
"In the second case the tooth was replaced, and when the patient was
Been on the following day the parts were found to be swollen and