A new treatise on the theory and practice of dental surgery / by J. Lefoulon ; translated from the French, for the American library of dental science, by Thomas E. Bond, jr.

Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A new treatise on the theory and practice of dental surgery / by J. Lefoulon ; translated from the French, for the American library of dental science, by Thomas E. Bond, jr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    cates into two conduits, of which the largest constitutes the mental hole, and the other directs itself towards the first small molar or canine tooth; then it again subdivides to go by yet other channels to the roots of the incisors, whose nerves and vessels it encloses. Before concluding what we have to say about the maxillary bones, it will be useful to say a little about the changes which they present at different periods of life, this point being impor- tant to the surgeon dentist. In the foBtus the maxillary bones are extremely small. As the child grows, they augment their volume in every sense; that is, by the development of the teeth and the enlargement of the sinus. At the age of two years, the size of the maxillaries augments considerably by the appearance of the milk teeth to the number of ten. At four years the triangular form of the sinus begins to manifest itself, the orbitary apophyses are very acute and do not connect to the adjacent bone. After the complete evolution of the first dentition, the inferior border of the two superior maxil- lary bones presents only ten alveoli, while later in hfe it contains sixteen, for the lodgment of an equal number of permanent teeth. When the work of the second dentition is entirely accomplished, the development of the superior maxillaries is finished in a re- markable manner—but that of the sinus always proceeds slowly. At the approach of adult age, the tuberosities of the maxillary are thrown out by the evolution of the wisdom teeth, and this is so true, that after their appearance these tuberosities flatten, and in old men disappear altogether. At advanced age the canine and myrtiform fossa) are very well marked,—the sinus enlarges, the teeth fall out, the alveoli disappear, the alveolar border is thinned, the gums consolidate and finally become hard. In infancy the rami of the inferior maxillary bones, far from having a perpendicular direction, are thrown backward and form a very obtuse angle with the body of the bone. The more nearly the child approaches adolescence, the more do the rami become erect; and in adult age they are almost perpendicular. In old men, the teeth and alveoli of the lower jaw undergo similar changes with those in the upper. The