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CASES. 251
Case I.—A young child was attacked with contractions of
the musculi flcxorcs of the fingers, and also of the toes.
These contractions were so considerable as to keep her
substance which proved to he the wisdom tooth. The tooth was re-
moved, and in three days the patient was able to leave the hospital,
cured.
It is astonishing how far the matter arising from one of these teeth
will occasionally burrow, instances having occurred where it has even
opened as low down in the neck as the collar bone. In the last case
the extraction of the second molar failed because the wisdom tooth was
extensively diseased ; but if the operation is performed before this has
taken place, as in the following case recorded by Velpeau, then it may
succeed :
A lady, aged 22, had a dull aching pain at the angle of the jaw on
the left side of the face, which soon extended to the adjoining teeth,
but was distinct from tooth-ache. As the pain continued to increase in
intensity for several months, it was thought to be rheumatism, and was
treated as such but without any good effect ; then blisters and a seton at
the back of the neck, kept open for a month, were tried, and opiates
given, but all to no purpose. She went and resided at a watering-place
for some time, but came back to Paris nothing benefited. All this
time the teeth were all good in appearance, the gums healthy, and
nothing denoted the eruption of a wisdom tooth. However, upon
making a section into the gum, over the wisdom tooth, it was found to
be arrested in its progress in consequence of the direction it had taken,
the crown having come directly forwards against the posterior surface
of the second molar. The second molar was extracted, and the
patient immediately released from her sufferings.
Other symptoms and disorders often arise from the development of
these lower wisdom teeth, such as the enlargement of the tonsils,
neuralgic pains, headaches, stuttering, epilepsy, and even insanity. Dr.
Fricard, when a student, was attacked, in the summer of 1821 with
pain in the throat, and iu the following November with severe inflam-
mation of the right tonsil. This was subdued for a time by antiphlo-
gistic treatment, but the pain soon returned, and continued in spite of
every means, up to the year 1823. The teeth and gums appeared to be
perfectly healthy, and the surgeon was about to extirpate the tonsil
when it was discovered that the wisdom tooth on the affected side was
not through. The gum was now freely divided, but the portions of the
divided gum inflamed, and had to be removed with the knife and
caustic. The tooth was thus completely freed, and the obstinate inflam-
mation of the tonsil soon disappeared.
Dr. Ashburner attended a young woman, 19 years of age, of light
hair, fair complexion, and rather stout, who for several months had
CASES. 251
Case I.—A young child was attacked with contractions of
the musculi flcxorcs of the fingers, and also of the toes.
These contractions were so considerable as to keep her
substance which proved to he the wisdom tooth. The tooth was re-
moved, and in three days the patient was able to leave the hospital,
cured.
It is astonishing how far the matter arising from one of these teeth
will occasionally burrow, instances having occurred where it has even
opened as low down in the neck as the collar bone. In the last case
the extraction of the second molar failed because the wisdom tooth was
extensively diseased ; but if the operation is performed before this has
taken place, as in the following case recorded by Velpeau, then it may
succeed :
A lady, aged 22, had a dull aching pain at the angle of the jaw on
the left side of the face, which soon extended to the adjoining teeth,
but was distinct from tooth-ache. As the pain continued to increase in
intensity for several months, it was thought to be rheumatism, and was
treated as such but without any good effect ; then blisters and a seton at
the back of the neck, kept open for a month, were tried, and opiates
given, but all to no purpose. She went and resided at a watering-place
for some time, but came back to Paris nothing benefited. All this
time the teeth were all good in appearance, the gums healthy, and
nothing denoted the eruption of a wisdom tooth. However, upon
making a section into the gum, over the wisdom tooth, it was found to
be arrested in its progress in consequence of the direction it had taken,
the crown having come directly forwards against the posterior surface
of the second molar. The second molar was extracted, and the
patient immediately released from her sufferings.
Other symptoms and disorders often arise from the development of
these lower wisdom teeth, such as the enlargement of the tonsils,
neuralgic pains, headaches, stuttering, epilepsy, and even insanity. Dr.
Fricard, when a student, was attacked, in the summer of 1821 with
pain in the throat, and iu the following November with severe inflam-
mation of the right tonsil. This was subdued for a time by antiphlo-
gistic treatment, but the pain soon returned, and continued in spite of
every means, up to the year 1823. The teeth and gums appeared to be
perfectly healthy, and the surgeon was about to extirpate the tonsil
when it was discovered that the wisdom tooth on the affected side was
not through. The gum was now freely divided, but the portions of the
divided gum inflamed, and had to be removed with the knife and
caustic. The tooth was thus completely freed, and the obstinate inflam-
mation of the tonsil soon disappeared.
Dr. Ashburner attended a young woman, 19 years of age, of light
hair, fair complexion, and rather stout, who for several months had
