Page 412 - My FlipBook

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408 ACCIDENTS IN THE EXTRACTION OF TEETH.

the patient should abstain from solid food for a few
days, or at least till the soreness is abated, and avoid
everything promotive of inflammation.

SYNCOPE.
*
Syncope, or minting, is frequently brought on by
extraction of the teeth, and even by other operations
upon them; indeed, it is sometimes produced simply
by cutting the gums, or by the sight of blood, or, in
some instances, by dread of an operation. It con-
sists in an intermission of the heart's action, and
consequently irregularity of the circulation of the

blood, accompanied with a temporary suspension of
the functions of the brain and a loss of consciousness.
Difficult or suspended respiration, lividness of the
skin, and inability to move, are the external indica-
tions of the condition. There are no constitutional
appearances known, by which a predisposition to
syncope can be determined : persons of all apparent
conditions and peculiarities are subject to it. The
most strong, robust, and healthy sometimes faint
under the most trivial influences; while others, of
the weakest and feeblest constitutions, can not be
brought into this condition by any ordinary means

so that nothing can be predicated of appearances as
to such predisposition. The fainting may occur- once
or twice in the same case, even under the most sim-