Page 266 - My FlipBook

250 HUNTER ON THE TEETH.
which are singular ; and which, being extraordinary, will the
better enforce the propriety, in all cases, of the cure I have
recommended.

very sensitive, although it may become most acutely so when inflamed
and ulcerated.
In cases of this kind the pain and swelling usually lasts for a week
or two, and subsides when the tooth has made its way through the gum
;
but in other cases the inflammation increases, and terminates in the
formation of abscesses, which extend along the jaw bone and open on
the exterior of the face by one or more apertuies, through which matter
is discharged, and will continue to do so until the tooth is removed. It
is very important that the patient shoidd seek advice at the commence-
ment of these disorders, not only because of the pain and inconvenience
he suffers, but also on account of the difficulty attending their treat-
ment at a more advanced stage, owing to the inability of the patient
to open his mouth, in consequence of the increased swelling ami
pain in the parts around the joint ami about the angle of the jaw.
These severe forms of disease more frecpiently come under the notice
of the medical practitioner than of the dentist, and we must therefore
avail ourselves of the records of medicine and of surgery to illustrate
this portion of dental pathology. In a lectuse upon the derangements
produced by the wisdom teeth, M. Roberts refers to no less than three
cases that were then in the Hotel-Dieu, in all of which the patients
were suffering from the impediment which existed to the development
of one of the wisdom teeth, showing that these more serious complica-
tions, which sometimes accompany the process, are not so rare as woidd
generally be supposed.
A man, aged 32 years, who was otherwise strong and in good health,
had suffered for two years from pain opposite the last molar tooth on
the left side of the lower jaw. An abscess formed which opened on the
side of the mouth, and afterwards by another opening near the chin.
A surgeon succeeded in closing this up by an operation, but it soon
reformed, and has continued to discharge pus ever since. The patient
then consulted a dentist, who lor six weeks made use of iodine injec-
tions, probably misled by the situation of the opening and the fact of
the teeth being sound, but of course the treatment was of no avail. He
then consulted another dentist, and requested him to remove the tooth ;
this person however made excuses, and declined to operate. Lastly, the
patient presented himself to an itinerant operator, who correctly referred
the symptoms to the wisdom tooth, and recommended him to have the
tooth in front of it removed. This was done, but did not answer, and
the man remained in the same condition as before. He then entered
the hospital, when it was found that a probe, passed in at the opening
near the chin, close to the back of the jaw, where it struck against a hard