Page 276 - My FlipBook

272 EXPOSED PULPS.

in a superior bicuspid tooth, the health and constitu-

tion being good, and the temperament sanguino-
lymphatic; and arsenic with morphine was applied to
it, directly, five times within ten days, without pro-
ducing any apparent effect; then an application of
creosote and tannin was made three or four times,
during as many days; afterward the tooth was tem-
porarily filled with gutta-percha; and finally, in ten
or twelve days, this filling being removed, the pulp
appeared in a state of perfect preservation and health,
with all the indications of undiminished vitality.
Over the exposed point there was placed a non-con-
ductor, and upon it a filling of gold ; and one year

after, the tooth presented the appearance of perfect
life and health, having given the patient no annoyance
during the whole period. Several similar, cases might
be cited, were it necessary.
Hence it is quite obvious that there is a great di-
versity of susceptibility to the influence of arsenic,
and that the study of these idiosyncrasies is both in-
teresting and valuable. The recurrence of injurious
consequences from the use of arsenic, has induced
many operators to abandon it altogether. But these
injurious results perhaps occur always either through

mal-administration, or from a peculiar susceptibility
to the influence of the drug; and a superior skill and
a more accurate diagnosis would avoid them almost