The Practical Family Dentist; With a Variety of Useful Receipts for Remedial Compounds, Designed for Diseases of the Teeth and Gums (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: portion of animal substance decreases, is their liability to inflammation. Hence, it is observed, that the chemical agents which come in contact with these organs during childhood, excite inflammation; vhereas, as age advances, inflammation is less liable to occur, until, at middle life, they operate almost exclusively, so far as the structure of the teeth is affected, by direct chemical action. This subject will be more fully explained hereafter. FORM NUMBER, AND ARRANGEMENT. The form of the teeth depends upon the position and special office they are designed to perform. The Incisors, or cutting teeth, so named from their flattened wedge shape, and the office they perform, are eight in number, four upper and four lower, and occupy the front position. They have but one root each, which is of a rounded form. The body of the tooth, which is covered with enamel, is of a wedge shape. The next in -order are the Cuspids, or, as they are commonly called, eye teeth. They are four in number, two upper and two lower. The root ofthe eye tooth is similar in form to the incisors, but is somewhat longer and larger, and a little more tapering in proportion to its size. The crown, or enameled portion, terminates in a point. From this circumstance it derives its name, Cuspis, signifying a point. In regard to extracting this tooth, there is a general impression that there is more danger than in removing the others. Many have a sort of superstitious fear that the eye will become affected, supposing it to have a particular connection with that organ. I have known many persons to suffer vei-y much from disease of these teeth, from this superstitious dread of having them removed. But such apprehensions are entirely without foundation. This tooth may be as easily extracted, and with as litt...