1 handful of spinach;
1 beet;
2 carrots.
Chop fine and boil two hours in 1 quart of water. Strain through gauze
and add sterile water to make up deficiency to 1 quart.
TOOTHACHE: Its Forms, Diagnosis, and Treatment for Relief.
The =sharp, paroxysmal, shooting= pain which is caused by the
application of cold, heat, sweets or sours, or by biting some
substances into a cavity, is due to a live pulp, and the treatment is
quite simple. Clean out the cavity as well as possible, then saturate
a small pellet of cotton with oil of cloves, or one drop of carbolic
acid, or a solution of cocaine hydrochlorate and clove oil. Place this
in the cavity and add another pellet of cotton to prevent the solution
from being washed out by saliva. Relief should be immediate, but if
not, reapply within a few minutes.
The =dull, throbbing= pain, with swelling of the face and a sensation
of elongation of the tooth, is caused by either a putrescent pulp or an
imperfect root canal filling. There is infection; therefore, the first
thing to do is to remove the pus.
_Dental Treatment._—If there is a large cavity in the tooth, try to
enter the root canals and remove the putrescent matter. If the face is
badly swollen, make a digital examination, and over the root of the
affected tooth you will find a spot about the center of the swelling
where it seems to be spongy, appearing to hold the impress of the
finger. Take a clean, sharp, cycle-shaped lancet, place on the spot,
holding the patient’s head firm with your other arm for fear of his
moving. Press the lancet firmly and directly through to the bone, then
draw it out with a pulling motion so as to make a cut about an eighth
of an inch or more. If this has been done properly, a creamy flow of
pus should follow the lancet. Place the fingers on either side of the
incision and massage toward incision. To relieve the pain, give _hot_
foot-baths, _cold_ applications to face (never _hot_), and some other
sedative internally, such as remedies given for a headache. When a
tooth is sore to percussion, so that the food cannot be masticated,
but is without pain when left at rest, if there is no pain over the
root of the tooth, it is best to give the tooth a rest, and apply
counterirritants over the roots of the adjacent teeth.
This condition is called =apical pericementitis=, an inflammation
of the layer of bone about the fangs of teeth. For relief, give hot
foot-baths and pain remedies, as in abscessed tooth. A dead pulp in a
tooth will form gas and cause the sensation of elongation and soreness.
If the putrefaction is not removed, an abscess will result. At first
there will be no soreness to pressure over the root, but on application
of heat, such as drinking hot coffee, there will be pain, while cold
water will temporarily remove it.
_Dental Treatment._—Open the chamber and remove the putrescent pulp,
being careful not to go beyond the apical foramen. Use a barbed broach,
then wash out with peroxide of hydrogen on a thread of absorbent cotton
wrapped smoothly about the broach. Do not push the instrument up into
the canal very far for fear of sending some putrescent matter beyond
the tooth. Then withdraw the broach and apply oil of cloves or carbolic
acid, leaving the canal open and clean for the gas to escape. Hot
foot-baths and headache remedies will relieve the pain.
=Gum-boils= are abscessed teeth, and may be deep-rooted or very
superficial. The treatment is the same as given above. Hot applications
are very often prescribed, but as an infection will always follow the
line of least resistance, it can be readily understood why such a
treatment should not be given. The abscess may gather in the cheek,
necessitating lancing, which will leave a scar. Cold cloths will allay
the infection and simplify the treatment to the gums alone. Teeth are
withdrawn, leaving unsightly cavities, which could be avoided by a
more deliberate treatment. Treat the abscess of the tooth the same as
an abscess in any other part of the body, thereby saving the root of
the tooth, if not the entire portion, which can be crowned and give a
permanent good tooth.
Mastication is the most important part of the digestive system, and
mastication cannot be done without good teeth. Therefore, it behooves
everyone to preserve his own teeth and to give this benefit to others
who may not have had dental treatment. There are dentists who will
extract a tooth upon the patient’s request, and it is best to seek the
most progressive and modern dental doctors for the preservation of
the teeth to prevent the untimely loss of a tooth, which means also
many times a preventive against other ailments affecting the digestive
tract. A good dentist should be consulted at least once a year,
although the teeth may appear sound and in good condition.