Page 22 - My FlipBook

6 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH —
poison from a dead pulp. The pain is usually re-
lieved b}^ freely opening tlie pulp-chamber—thus
giving vent to the foul gases of decomposition
and by the application of counter irritants to the
gum, iodine liniment being very useful for this
purpose. Capsicum plasters are also very good, the
difficulty being for patients to make them stay in
place sufficiently long to be of service.
When peridental inflammation has reached the
suppurative stage, very little relief Avill be obtained
until the pus is able to escape. In many cases
the fine steel bristle may be passed through the
apex of the root, and the pus will at once flow
down through the root- canal. In other cases the
patient may be directed to poultice the gum with
pieces of hot figs, or to apply the more convenient
capsicum plasters until the pus is drawn through
the alveolus into the gum, whence it is readily
evacuated with a lancet. Drilling through gum
and alveolus gives speedy relief in many cases, but
is too heroic a method for general practice.
Whenever the patient resists the manipulation
necessary to vent the canals, it becomes a question
of the judgment of the operator, whether he will
attempt to get rid of the pain by trusting solely to
local applications to the gum, or whether he will at
once extract the tooth. An excellent method in