Page 388 - My FlipBook

384 EXTRACTION OF TEETH.

greater and more rapid than that caused by the ope-
ration itself. In such cases, if the extraction is
effected immediately, it will give relief; but where

the excitement has been very high, and the tension
for some time great, the depression after the opera-
tion will be correspondingly great, and considerable
time be required for complete recovery ; indeed, the
shock is sometimes so severe as to occasion confine-
ment for several days. Treatment for quieting the
nervous system, consisting in agents of a sedative
character, may be employed previously to the opera-

tion : stimulants, as a general rule, should be avoided.
Where there is a high state of inflammation in the
immediate parts, especially if there is a general in-
flammatory diathesis, the propriety of extracting the
teeth is questionable. Under such circumstances,
there is probably less danger in the extraction of the
inferior teeth, than of the superior. Where the in-
flammation has a disposition to extend, it is liable to
go to the head from the superior maxilla, and to the
fauces and throat from the inferior. In cases, then,
where there is excessive inflammation in the imme-
diate parts, accompanied by a general inflammatory

condition, both local and general antiphlogistic treat-
ment should be adopted.
Extreme irritability, or a diseased condition of

parts having an intimate connection with the teeth,