Page 36 - My FlipBook

CHAPTER III

PYORRHCEA ALVEOLARIS

It would be out of place in a book of this descrip-
tion to criticise the term Pyorrhoea alveolaris, or to
attempt to go into the etiology of the disease. For
practical purposes it may be said to consist in a
wasting away, or decay, or absorption, of the sockets
of the teeth which proceeds usually in a more or
less irregular manner, and then, in consequence of
lack of support, the teeth become loose, and if the
disease runs its course unchecked, the teeth finally
drop out, or have to be extracted. During the
progress of the disease small brown scales of an
exceedingly hard and adherent tartar are deposited
on the roots, in places where the alveolar process
has disappeared. This has been given the name of
sanguinary or serumnal tartar, as it appears to be
deposited from the exudations of the diseased tissues,
and not from the saliva. The destruction of the
sockets of the teeth is accompanied by a slow or
chronic state of inflammation of the peridental