Page 306 - My FlipBook

302 ALVEOLAR ABSCESS.

the root, the canal is to be cleansed of all foreign and
detached matter, and opened freely through to the
point; and, if the discharge is very fetid, some dis-
infectant should be used, than which perhaps nothing
is better than diluted creosote, since a fetid condition
keeps up irritation. The cleansing of the root may
be accomplished by injection of chlorid of sodium;
after which, the agent to act on the disease at its

seat, is to be introduced. Of this agent, there are
various kinds employed, the chief of which are
chlorid of zinc, nitrate of silver, and creosote, the first
being applied in the solid, and the latter two in the
liquid state—though the nitrate may be employed in
the solid form. The method of using the chlorid of
zinc is, to pass it in small portions up the canal, on a
piece of silk; with a fine probe, entirely through the
point of the root ; which process should be repeated
every twenty-four to forty-eight hours, as the case

may indicate. After this, during two or three days,
floss silk, moistened with a mild solution of creosote
and tannin in alcohol, should be applied daily; and
then clean silk or cotton may be worn in the canal,
changed every day, for three or four days, or till it
is manifest that there is no longer any discharge, and
that the parts are in a healthy condition. If nitrate
of silver, in solution, or creosote is used, it should be
absorbed into a piece of floss silk, and passed through