The history and treatment of the diseases of the teeth, the gums, and the alveolar processes, with the operations which they respectively require. To which are added, observations on other diseases of the mouth, and on the mode of fixing artificial teeth / by Joseph Fox.

Date:
1806
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The history and treatment of the diseases of the teeth, the gums, and the alveolar processes, with the operations which they respectively require. To which are added, observations on other diseases of the mouth, and on the mode of fixing artificial teeth / by Joseph Fox. 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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    If a sound tooth, that has been recently extracted, be broken, the membrane will be found to be firmly attached to the bone of the tooth, forming the inner cavity. But when this membrane becomes inflamed, it separates from the bone, and the death of the tooth is the consequence. That this is the proximate cause of caries, appears to be highly probable, by remarking that a caries of other bones is caused by a separation of those membranes which cover them, and which are attached to them. Thus a separation of the peri- osteum will cause a death of part of the tibia, or that of the pericranium, a caries of some part of the bones of the head. This opinion is also confirmed by comparing the symptoms which accompany inflammation in a bone with those which are occasionally felt by persons in their teeth, previously to any appearance of caries. During the inflammation of a bone, there is an obtuse, rather than an acute pain; the parts which surround or cover it feel sore, and cannot bear pressure; and, when there is the opportu- nity of making the comparison, an inflamed bone is found to have a darker appearance than a healthy one.