The pathology of dental caries / by C. Spence Bate.

  • Bate, C. Spence.
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pathology of dental caries / by C. Spence Bate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    52/100 (page 48)
    quantity and quality of the dental fluid that is so lost, in connection with the more or less normal development of the dentinal tissues. Assuming the fluid to be liquor sanguinis, it must carry in solution fibrine and albumen, both of which are highly carbonized substances, and therefore upon exposure liable to rapid decompo- sition. I am inclined to think that to the presence of this fluid is to be attributed the unpleasant taste peculiar to dental caries A That the connection between caries and the tubuli is very close I think can be shown to demon- stration. In early life, when we should suppose, from the largeness of the dental pulps, and the extent of the openings of the tubuli, that the cir- culation of the fluid must be the greater, is the period at which dental caries, when it exists, proceeds most rapidly. And we can perceive, moreover, a cause for the close relation that exists in some diseases with the extensiveness of decay, for should the blood be vitiated in its quality, its condition might be such as to superinduce a more rapid decomposition of the tissue. In support of the same opinion, I would draw attention to caries as it proceeds more slowly. If we make a section under such circumstances, I * I infer this from the circumstance that there appears not to be the same taste complained of in the decomposition of human teeth when placed in the mouth artificially, although sometimes decay may be very extensively present.