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GENERAL REMARKS. 329
The ancients were cautious in this particular : it is
recorded of them, that they made extracting instru-
ments of lead, to prevent injury from the employ-
ment of too great force. It is difficult, indeed,
always to determine what amount of force may be
necessary for the removal of a tooth in any given
case ; though by long and close observation, it may
be pretty accurately calculated ; and it is important
for the operator to know it, so as to prepare for the
emergency, and to select the instrument appropriate
to the occasion. In order to be successful, an ope-
rator must be confident of his ability, and, to be so,
must be possessed of it. He should be familiar with
the anatomical structure of the parts to be operated
upon; should understand the physiological and the
pathological conditions of the parts adjacent; and
should properly appreciate their influence on, and
their connection with, the teeth.
There is a great difference in teeth with regard to
their facility of removal. Those most difficult to ex-
tract, possess the following peculiarities : shortness
and thickness of crown ; in the incisors, thickness
the edges of the superior and the inferior meeting
squarely on, or deviating but little from their points
freedom from prominences on the crowns of the mo-
lars and bicuspids, their masticating surfaces being
smooth; regularity in arrangement, all being in cor-
GENERAL REMARKS. 329
The ancients were cautious in this particular : it is
recorded of them, that they made extracting instru-
ments of lead, to prevent injury from the employ-
ment of too great force. It is difficult, indeed,
always to determine what amount of force may be
necessary for the removal of a tooth in any given
case ; though by long and close observation, it may
be pretty accurately calculated ; and it is important
for the operator to know it, so as to prepare for the
emergency, and to select the instrument appropriate
to the occasion. In order to be successful, an ope-
rator must be confident of his ability, and, to be so,
must be possessed of it. He should be familiar with
the anatomical structure of the parts to be operated
upon; should understand the physiological and the
pathological conditions of the parts adjacent; and
should properly appreciate their influence on, and
their connection with, the teeth.
There is a great difference in teeth with regard to
their facility of removal. Those most difficult to ex-
tract, possess the following peculiarities : shortness
and thickness of crown ; in the incisors, thickness
the edges of the superior and the inferior meeting
squarely on, or deviating but little from their points
freedom from prominences on the crowns of the mo-
lars and bicuspids, their masticating surfaces being
smooth; regularity in arrangement, all being in cor-
