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CONSEQUENCES OF CARIES. 65

CONSEQUENCES OF CARIES.

It is here proposed to refer only to some of the
more common results of this affection, one of the
most obvious of which is the exposure of the pulp of
the tooth; on which exposure, disease ensues, and
finally death. During this diseased condition of the
pulp, there occurs that very peculiar sensation com-
monally denominated toothache. As well as the

destruction of the pulp, the entire destruction of the
crown of the tooth is the inevitable consequence of
caries, unless arrested in its progress. After the
destruction of the pulp and the lining membrane,
the external periosteum in many cases becomes
involved, the affection being but an extension of

that which destroyed the internal periosteum. In-
flammation and suppuration are of common occur-

rence, by which a discharge is established from be-
tween the margin of the gum and the neck of the
tooth, or through a fistulous opening in the process
and the gum, as is the case when an abscess is formed
at the point of a root.
A diseased condition of the alveolar process is, in
many instances, produced by diseased and dead teeth

necrosis and exfoliation of considerable portions being
sometimes the result. Indeed extensive caries o^