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330 EXTRACTION OF TEETH.

rect position and in contact with one another ; color
slightly yellow ; denseness and thickness of alveolus
unyielding firmness of the soft tissues ; lack of promi-
nences on the gums to indicate the size and position

of the roots. Another class of teeth, differing in
characteristics from those of the above, are also very
difficult of extraction, namely : those having crowns
of medium length and of a diameter at the neck much
less than at the masticating surface ; roots long and
divergent, and in some cases considerably curved
and often a very firm union with the alveolus, so that
a portion remains adhering to the tooth when it is
extracted; which occurs more frequently with the
superior cuspid teeth than with any others ; and often

the septum between the roots is so firmly embraced
by them, especially when they converge, that it is
brought away with the tooth on its extraction. Bony

uniou of the teeth has been enumerated as one of the
occasional obstacles in extraction of the teeth ; but
this rarely if ever occurs—the mode of development
almost precluding the possibility of its existence—so
that it need scarcely be reckoned. Exostosis of the
root sometimes renders extraction very difficult,
especially when the enlargement attaches to the point
of the root, and forms a bulb larger than the diame-

ter of the root elsewhere. It is then like a ball in a
socket, and, if the walls of the alveolus are thick and