Page 269 - My FlipBook

EXPOSED PULPS. 265

to be used, should be such as last described, except
that it should be much larger, and is to be introduced,
in the same manner, to the bottom of the pulp-cham-
ber, and rotated suddenly, so as to cut off the ramifi-
cations of the pulp into the roots, thus at one sweep
dislodging the entire body of it without laceration.

The practice of plunging a large barbed or cutting
instrument into the pulp of a molar tooth, is barbarous
in the extreme. The branches of the pulp in the
roots should be removed in the manner already
directed for the reinoval of the pulps from teeth of
single roots. The palatal root is very easily operated
upon; but, as to the buccal roots, there is frequently
encountered the same difficulty referred to in speak-

ing of the bicuspids. Commonly, when a pulp is
removed in this manner, the wound heals by first in-
tention, and there is formed a permanent cicatrix.
Actual Cautery.—Formerly, for destroying tooth-
pulp, the actual cautery was employed to a consider-
able extent, and was at one time a favorite method
with French dentists. This consists in heating a
wire of proper size to a white heat, and thrusting it
up the canal of the root to the apex, the object being
to destroy the pulp the instant the wire comes in
contact with it. The operation requires much skill,

and is attended with many difficulties. It is fraught
with terror to the patient; if the temperature of the