The diseases of the human teeth : their natural history and structure : with the mode of applying artificial teeth, etc., etc. / by Joseph Fox and Chapin A. Harris ; with two hundred and fifty illustrations.

  • Fox, Joseph, 1776-1816.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diseases of the human teeth : their natural history and structure : with the mode of applying artificial teeth, etc., etc. / by Joseph Fox and Chapin A. Harris ; with two hundred and fifty illustrations. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    young woman: about five years before I saw her, the gums, covering the jaw where the teeth had been situated, appeared to be thicker than before; they gradually increased in size until a very large tumour was formed: it had now become so large as to affect the speech, and in other ways was extremely troublesome. The lady was very desirous to have it removed; to effect which, without incurring the danger of hemorrhage, I employed ligatures. The basis being very broad, I passed a needle, with two ligatures, close to the jaw bone, through the substance of the tumour, half of which was then included in each ligature. The ligatures were tied just tight enough to stop the circulation; the next day there was a great deal of inflammation, which sub- sided in proportion as the ligatures began to produce ulceration, which on the fourth day was very considera- ble: new ligatures were then applied; on the sixth day these were removed and others introduced; on the eighth, one ligature came away, leaving the tumour hanging only by a small pedicle; this being cut through with a lancet, the whole was removed; the surface was then touched with some diluted nitrous acid, and the gums have ever since continued in a perfectly healthy state. Subsequent experience has furnished me with many opportunities of removing several excrescences of a simi- lar nature. The basis of these are generally very broad, and therefore cannot be included in a single ligature; on this account, I have commonly passed a needle, armed with two ligatures, through the middle part of the tumour, as close to the bone as possible, and then have included half of the substance in each of the ligatures. The ulce- rated process goes on here very quickly; in some cases the application of a second ligature has been quite suffi- cient, and in most cases it has not been necessary to make use of more than three or four ligatures.