A treatise on the disorders and deformities of the teeth and gums, explaining the most rational methods of treating their diseases. Illustrated with cases and experiments / by Thomas Berdmore.

  • Berdmore, Thomas, 1740-1785.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the disorders and deformities of the teeth and gums, explaining the most rational methods of treating their diseases. Illustrated with cases and experiments / by Thomas Berdmore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The number of the teeth varies in different periods of life, as shall be shown hereafter ; at present, we shall only consider them in their most perfect state. After the dentes sapientice have appeared, there are sixteen teeth in each jaw, which are divided into three classes; the first including the four anterior teeth, called incisores or cutting teeth ; the second including the two next, one on each side, called canini or dog teeth ; and the third including the other ten, five on each side, named molares or grinders. The incisors of the upper jaw are larger and broader than those of the lower; and of the upper ones, the two in the middle are the largest. The roots of the incisors are long, pointed, and single; the bodies are wedge-like, convex on the outer side, a little concave within, flatted on the sides, and so disposed that their sharp edges lie all in a line, making one uniform edge. The dentes canini, so called from their prominence and simili¬ tude to the teeth of dogs, and also eye-teeth, on account of their situation, stand on either side of the incisors. Their bodies are thicker, more prominent, pointed, and rounder on the outside, than those of the incisors; and their roots are thicker, longer, and more pointed. Sometimes they are so long as to perforate the bottom of the maxillary sinus. Of the dentes molares, or grinders, the two first in each row are small, the two next larger, as are the last also, called the wise-teeth. Their bodies are generally short, very thick, irregularly cylin¬ drical, or rather with four sides a little rounded, and terminated by a broad end, more or less filled with obtuse points, cut in some measure like so many diamonds; whence the name of crowrn is most frequently given to the bodies of the molares, because the resemblance is greater than in the others. The crowns of the two small molares are often less than the bodies of the canini, and seldom have above two points, or three at most. In the two large molares the crown is of much greater extent, and the points are three, four, and often five in number. The fifth grinder, or dens sapientise, has a crown much like the two former, but often more rounded and with fewer points. We sometimes find it, even in advanced age, wholly hid in its socket. The roots of the molares are long, more or less flatted, single in some of them, in others two, three, or four, but rarely five in number. Sometimes all these roots are distinct, sometimes wholly united, and often united only in part. They are generally straight, and more distant from each other at the extremity than