no pain or uneasiness. This set, when complete, consists of thirty-two
teeth, being twelve more than the first set. But though the regular
number of the second set of teeth is thirty-two, a deficiency of this
number sometimes occurs, and this deficiency is generally confined to
the dentes sapientiæ, or wisdom teeth. Sometimes the lateral incisors,
and not unfrequently one or both of the upper canine teeth, are found
wanting; the protrusion of the dentes sapientiæ, at times, does not
take place till the fortieth year, and, in some instances, not even
then.
There are cases recorded of persons never having any teeth; one case of
this kind has come under my own observation, and in that instance the
gums were sufficiently callous to answer every purpose of mastication.
I have frequently been informed that there is a family living in South
Carolina, several members of which have no teeth, where the processes
and gums are so perfectly well formed and elongated, as to make the
defect hardly perceptible.
The removal of the temporary teeth is a curious operation of nature.
The fangs being absorbed, they loosen by degrees, and are pushed
from their situations by the pressure of the second set. But there
are instances in which this absorption does not take place, and,
consequently, the second set not being permitted to come forward in
their proper places, become irregular and deformed. The only means of
preventing this irregularity and deformity, is timely extraction.
(12) _Should meet resistance from opposing force._
There are instances, and those not a few, when relief can be afforded
by no other means than by extraction; for this operation I prefer the
improved forceps, in all cases where they can be safely applied, as
being the best and safest instruments that can be used; but if the
tooth is so much decayed as to render it likely to break where the
points of the forceps embrace the tooth, I uniformly use a small key
instrument, with the improvement I made on it many years ago, which is
now in very general use, in England and in this country.
In order to do myself justice, I shall here make a short extract
from Mr. Snell’s work, lately published in London, the author of
which, in speaking of the instrument, forgot to make mention by whom
the improvement was made. “The moveable bolster,” says he, “when in
apposition to the gum, retains its relative situation, and the fulcrum
of the instrument moves upon it; this I consider one of the most
important improvements of the key instrument; its superiority over the
old one is so evident, as to need no farther explanation.”--(page 100.)
On the subject of this improvement, Dr. Thomas Hare, of London,
as early as 1821, in his celebrated treatise on the “Stomach and
Alimentary Organs of the human body,” thus speaks: “The instruments
hitherto in use for the extraction of teeth, have, to my apprehension,
been deficient of that neatness and convenience for adaptation, which
every operation on the human frame so justly demands. Besides his
finished qualifications as a dentist, therefore, it gives me great
pleasure to notice the merits of Mr. Eleazar Parmly, in contriving an
instrument, admirable for its simplicity, which completely sets aside
these obvious disadvantages.” (Pages 295, 296. _London Edition_, 1821.)
I make the following extract from Mr. Koecker’s work, to show that many
persons have an unwarrantable antipathy to extraction; and that parents
are frequently more in fault than their children, when resistance is
made to the necessary performance of operations on the teeth. A want of
decision on the part of parents, often subjects the child to serious
injury, and the operator to many inconveniences, not the least of which
is loss of time, which might be wholly avoided, if parents would send
their children to the dentist with directions for his government, or
submit them entirely to his management, when placed in his hands for
the benefit of his advice or operations.
It is the case of a child about ten years of age. “I discovered,”
says this writer, “several of her teeth to be carious, and proposed
to remove the caries with a file, and to extract the first four large
grinders, in order to prevent a recurrence of the disease, which had
arisen from some irregularity of the teeth, owing to their crowded
state.
“The poor child was greatly alarmed at this advice. Her eyes filled
with tears, although her sisters, who were more familiar with the
operation, where whispering her to be of good cheer. The affectionate
mother was much grieved at the discovery, and the struggle between her
good sense on the one hand, and her parental anxiety on the other,
was so affecting, that I proposed another plan, by which I should be
able to save all the teeth of her daughter. But to this proposal she
would not consent, declaring that she was convinced my first advice
was the best, and adding that she and her daughter would submit to the
operation first proposed; desiring only a little time for preparation.
“About a week afterwards the little girl called upon me in excellent
spirits; and after expressing her sorrow for not having submitmitted to
the operation immediately, stated that her reluctance had principally
resulted from the alarm of her mother, who had continued, ever since
I last saw her, to express her wish that the operation should be
performed, but had not courage enough to agree to its performance.
She, the daughter, therefore, had at last resolved to come to me,
without the knowledge of her mother; and having acquainted me with
the circumstances, she sat down with sparkling eyes and a smiling
countenance, and said: ‘Now, if you please, sir, I am ready!’
“I shall not attempt to describe my feelings on this occasion; but
merely state, that, in less than five minutes, the four permanent first
large grinders, the largest teeth in her mouth, were wrapped up in a
piece of paper, and she went away with them in her hand, rather dancing
than walking, to surprise and relieve her anxious mother from fear and
apprehension.
“I leave to parents, and particularly to mothers, to judge of the
mother’s feelings for so amiable a daughter.”
“It is remarkable,” says Mr. Fox, “but not less true, that there is
scarcely any pain to which the human body is subject, that is so much
under the influence of fear and hope, as the tooth-ache. This is
experienced by almost every patient, and as constantly observed by
every surgeon, by the pain generally leaving that individual who is
under the immediate expectation of having the tooth extracted.
“Empirics are not wanting, who take advantage of this circumstance, and
pretend to cure tooth-ache by certain charms and nostrums: indeed, at
the moment, they appear to be successful, from the passions of fear or
hope causing a temporary suspension of pain.
“The burning of the _Antihelix_ of the ear, in order to relieve this
complaint, must be ranked amongst the above methods of cure; it is one
not worthy of notice, had it not been formerly a very popular remedy,
and lately recommended in a periodical publication.
“The slightest knowledge of the distribution of the nerves to the
teeth must convince every one, that a division of any part of the ear
cannot separate the connexion that subsists between the teeth and
the principal branches that go to the brain; and, therefore, no more
benefit can be derived from this formidable operation, than may be
attributed to the influence of fear.” (_Fox on Human Teeth, Part_ II.,
p. 38.)
(13) _For healthy action on the general frame._
If we may judge from the opinions of the most able physicians and
surgeons, it is evident that the digestion of our food depends greatly
on the quantity of saliva which is elicited from the glands and mingled
with it, and to its being properly masticated by the teeth, before it
descends into the stomach. From this view we are led to consider the
teeth as essential instruments in preparing our food. The front teeth
are intended to take hold of and divide the food, and those placed back
in the jaws to grind or comminute it, in which state only it is fit to
pass into the stomach.
Digestion, then, is performed first by the action of the teeth, during
which process the saliva is elicited from the glands in order to be
mixed with it, and, as it is comminuted, descends into the stomach
along with this powerful solvent, for its assimilation. It is there
mixed with the gastric juice, and receives the other changes which
convert it into nutritive matter.
If the teeth, then, are incapable of performing their office, the
process of digestion must be imperfectly carried on, and the health of
the individual suffer in proportion. The supply of nourishment to the
system is the first and great function of life; and the health of the
teeth, so essential to it, cannot claim too much attention from every
individual.
(14) _Disgusting objects of deformity!_
“The influence which the teeth exercise over beauty, justifies the
pre-eminence which I attribute to them over all the other attractions
of the countenance. This ornament is equally attractive in both sexes:
it distinguishes the elegant from the slovenly gentleman, and diffuses
amiability over the countenance, by softening the features. But it is
more especially to woman that fine teeth are necessary, since it is
her destiny first to gratify the eyes before she touches the soul, and
captivates and enslaves the heart.” (_Dict. Sci. Med. Paris._)
(15) _And spreads delight through all its wide domain._
“Some idea of the rapid motion of the blood may be formed from the
following calculation: the heart propels, at each pulsation, about
one ounce of blood, and when it makes eighty pulsations in a minute,
of course three hundred pounds of blood must pass through it in an
hour, which is about twelve times the whole mass of blood in the body;
and this rapid action is incessantly going on, night and day, through
life.” (_Fuller on the Teeth_, p. 47.)
(16) _And hence, defective, only from abuse._
“The following is the composition of the teeth, as given by Berzelius,
whose analysis appears to have been more elaborate than that of any
other chemist. It will be found to record the occurrence of several
substances as existing in the bone and enamel of the teeth, the
presence of which has not been detected by others. According to this
celebrated chemist, the enamel of the adult teeth contains, in one
hundred parts:--
“Phosphate of lime 85.3
Fluate of lime 3.2
Carbonate of lime 8
Phosphate of magnesia 1.5
Soda and muriate of soda 1
Animal matter and water 1
----
100
“The bony substance is stated, by the same authority, to contain:--
“Phosphate of lime 62
Fluate of lime 2
Carbonate of lime 5.5
Phosphate of magnesia 1
Soda and muriate of soda 1.5
Gelatine and water 28
----
100”
(_Bell on the Teeth_, pp. 6, 7.)
(17) _Assigned these organs in the frame of man._
“The teeth, which are the only hardened parts of the animal frame
exposed to the influence of air, to the influence of invasive fluids,
or called upon to exercise any sort of mechanical power without the
intervention of membranous or other protection, and without the aid
of lubricating fluid proper to themselves, or being placed beyond the
mutilating influence of chemical agents, are of a more dense, refined,
and minute crystalline texture externally, than any other of its
objects; but this natural advantage of texture has become progressively
lessened with the advancement of civilization.” (_Hare on the Stomach_,
p. 51.)
To the foregoing remarks of my distinguished friend, I will add, that
the teeth are the hardest and most compact parts of the human frame,
as is evident from their being found after interment in a perfect
condition, after all the other bones have mouldered away.--Hence we may
reasonably conclude, that, from their formation, they are little liable
to decay; and that the inattention of the individual, and the action
of extraneous matter upon them, are the chief causes of those diseases
with which they are oftentimes affected.
Though to a superficial observer the teeth may appear to be a part
of the body which is little deserving of regard, yet, those who
consider the many functions which the teeth have to perform, must
allow that their claims on our attention are as many and as strong
as those of any other part of the human frame. Those means should be
studied, therefore, which tend to preserve them in their original
perfection; and every argument used, to impress upon the attention of
society at large the importance of resorting to those means, whenever
circumstances may require their aid.
(18) _A greedy vampyre, feasting on his heart!_
“The Brazilians, when first discovered by the Europeans, lived the most
natural, original lives of mankind, so frequently described in ancient
countries, before laws, or property, or arts made entrance among them;
they lived without labor, farther than for their necessary food, by
gathering fruits, herbs, and plants; they knew no drink but water;
were not tempted to eat or drink beyond common thirst or appetite;
were not troubled with either public or domestic cares, nor knew any
pleasure but the most simple and natural.” (_Sir John Sinclair’s Code
of Health_, Vol. IV. p. 333.)
“The chief food of the Japanese is rice, pulse, fruits, roots, and
herbs; but mostly rice, which they have in great plenty and perfection,
and dress in so many different ways, and give to it such variety of
tastes, flavor, and color, that a stranger would hardly know what he
was eating.” (_Mod. Universal History_, Vol. IX. p. 62.)
“The philosophers of India eat nothing but rice, fruits, and herbs.”
(_Bartolomeo’s Voyages_, by Johnson, p. 287.)
“The four most ancient orders of priests, the Rahans, the Bramins, the
Magi, and the Druids, confined themselves to vegetable food, as did
also the Athenian prince, Triptolemus, who established the Eleusinian
mysteries, and prohibited by law all injury to animals.”--(_Monthly
Magazine, February, 1812_, p. 21.)
If it should be deemed necessary to explain my motives for any seeming
digression from my subject, in introducing matter that will no doubt be
considered by some as wholly unconnected with the duties of a practical
dentist, I would say, that it is my settled opinion, that whatever
affects the general condition of the system, must, in a greater or less
degree, affect the health of the teeth.
I have myself suffered much, in former years, from debility and other
forms of indisposition, induced, I am persuaded, by gross and improper
diet. For the last year I have abstained from all exciting drinks, have
utterly relinquished the use of tea and coffee, have abstained from
animal food of every name and nature, and by this course of conduct
have found my health to be so much benefitted, that I feel it a duty
as well as a pleasure, to endeavor to impress upon the reader the
necessity of living more frugally, if he wish to enjoy that health
of body and that tranquillity of mind which none can enjoy, for any
great length of time, but such as live in accordance with the rules
prescribed by all profound philosophers, both of ancient and modern
times.
On this subject, and for the foregoing reasons, I have selected such
passages from various distinguished authors as I have found true by
experience, in the hope that this cloud of witnesses in behalf of
temperance, health, and happiness, may influence some of my readers
to sacrifice at least one debasing appetite on the altar of truth and
reason.
(19) _Compared, intemperate luxury! with thine._
“The throat has destroyed more than the sword.”
MARTIAL.
“The nations that subsist on vegetable diet are of all men the
handsomest, the most robust, the least exposed to diseases and violent
passions; and they attain the greatest longevity. The Bramins of
India, who frequently survive a century, eat nothing but vegetables.
From the Pythagorean school, Epaminondas issued forth, so renowned
for his virtues; Archytas, so celebrated for his skill in mechanics;
and Milo of Crotona, for his strength. As vegetable diet has a
necessary connexion with many virtues, and excludes none, it must be
of importance to accustom young people to it, seeing its influence so
powerfully contributes to beauty of person and tranquillity of soul.
The children of the Persians, in the time of Cyrus, and by his orders,
were fed with bread, water, and cresses; and Lycurgus introduced a
considerable part of the physicial and moral regimen of these children
into the education of those of _Lacedæmon_. Such diet prolongs infancy,
and, of course, the duration of human life.” (_Bernardin de St.
Pierre’s Studies of Nature_, Vol. IV. p. 357.)
“As, in every period of history, it has been known, that fruit and
vegetables alone are sufficient for the support of life, and that the
bulk of mankind live upon them at this hour; the adherence to the use
of animal food is no more than a persistance in the gross customs of
savage life--and evinces an insensibility to the progress of reason,
and to the operation of intellectual improvements.” (_Dr. Lambe on
Regimen_, p. 243.)
“The circumstance of weighing down the stomach with a load of food,
particularly where relaxation of the general fibre is favored by
inactive habits, must tend by degrees to increase its capaciousness;
and in proportion as this increases, the energies of the brain and of
all the organs of sense become diminished; the sight, the hearing, and
the smell, are less exquisitely acute; the palate is not satisfied with
simple viands; and even the sense of touch is rendered less nice.
“It was well observed by the late Dr. Saunders, that we are made
gluttons from the cradle by the officiousness of our nurses; a child’s
health is disordered by being over fed; it cries and complains from the
effects, and with a view to silence it, more and more food is given, so
that the evil is increased instead of remedied, and the capacity of the
stomach gradually extended far beyond the salutary bounds of nature.”
(_Hare on the Stomach_, p. 134.)
(20) _And drains destruction from the circling glass._
“A vulgar error prevails, which is, that strong liquors are essential
to bodily strength. This false opinion is partly grounded on the
idea of a nutritious property in those liquors, and partly, perhaps,
in a logical error in using the word _strong_, as being necessarily
connected with strengthening the animal body. The first notion is
entirely wrong; since it is proved, by continual evidence that strong
liquors are inimical to animal life throughout the creation, and that
no living animal or plant can be supported by such fluids; but that, on
the contrary, they all become sickly and perish under their influence.
I presume that no person would give a lamb, a calf, a chicken, or a
duck, such liquors, with a hope of rendering them sooner fat, and of
sweeter flesh, even if such liquors were so cheap as to render it an
economical process. Yet many parents do this to their infant children!
The fate of those individuals is truly deplorable, who cannot exist
without an exhausting stimulus.” (_Sir Anthony Carlisle’s Lectures on
fermented liquors._)
Dr. Rush observes, that, “since the introduction of spirituous liquors
into such general use, physicians have remarked that a number of new
diseases have appeared among us, and have described many new symptoms
as common to old diseases. Spirits, in their first operation, are
stimulating upon the system. They quicken the circulation of the blood,
and produce some heat in the body. Soon after they become what is
called sedative; that is, they diminish the action of the vital powers,
and thereby produce languor and weakness.”
(21) _Crowns high the board; for this the herd has bled._
“Dr. Alphonsus Lercy, of Paris, has published an essay on certain
diseases of men, which he traces to the animals on which they had fed;
and he establishes the doctrine generally, that many diseases with
which mankind are afflicted, are communicated by eating the flesh of
animals.” (_Monthly Magazine, June 1815_, p. 446.)
“The late Sir Edward Barry prevailed with a man to live on partridges,
without vegetables; but after eight days’ trial he was obliged to
desist, in consequence of strong symptoms then appearing of an
incipient putrefaction.” (_Sir J. Sinclair’s Code of Health_, Vol. I.
p. 425.)
“The use of swine’s flesh, in union with ardent spirits, is, in all
likelihood, the grand cause of the scurvy, which is so common in the
British nation, and which would probably assume the form and virulence
of a leprosy, were our climate as hot as that of Judea.” (_Dr. Adam
Clarke._)
“It is a remarkable fact, that at Heimaey, the only one of the Westmann
islands which is inhabited, scarcely a single instance has been known,
during the last twenty years, of a child surviving the period of
infancy. In consequence, the population, which does not exceed two
hundred souls, is entirely kept up by emigration from the main land of
Iceland. The food of this people consists principally of sea-birds,
fulmars, and puffins. The fulmars they procure in vast abundance; and
they use the eggs and flesh of the birds, and salt the latter for their
winter food. There are a few cows and sheep on the island, but the
inhabitants are said to have no vegetable food.”--(_Dr. Lambe’s Reports
on Regimen_, p. 197.)
“In ancient times, the medicines of the Indians consisted chiefly,
according to Strabo, in regularity, temperance, and a choice of food.”
(_Bartolomeo, by Johnson_, p. 423.)
“The man who forsakes not the law, and eats not flesh meat, like a
blood thirsty demon, shall attain good will in this world, and shall
not be afflicted with maladies.” (_Laws of Menu, from Sir William
Jones_, Vol. III. p. 206.)
“Happy the man, who, studying nature’s laws,
Through known effects can trace the secret cause:--
He feeds on fruits, which of their own accord,
The willing ground and laden trees afford:--
Simple his beverage, homely is his food,
The wholesome herbage, and the running flood.”
(_Dryden’s Virgil, Georg._ II. l. 698.--III. l. 790.)
“The moral effect of aliment is clearly evinced in the different
tempers of the carnivorous and the frugivorous animals. The former,
whose destructive passions, like those of ignorant man, lay waste all
within their reach, are constantly tormented with hunger, which returns
and rages in proportion to their devastation; this creates that state
of warfare or disquietude which seeks, as in murderers, the night and
the veil of the forest; for should they appear on the plain, their prey
escapes, or, seen by each other, their warfare begins.--The frugivorous
animals wander tranquilly on the plains, and testify their joyful
existence by frisking and basking in the genial rays of the sun, or
browsing with pleasure on the green herb. The same effect of aliment is
discernible amongst the different species of men; the peaceful temper
of the frugivorous Asiatic is strongly contrasted with the ferocious
disposition of the carnivorous European.” (_Jean Jacques Rousseau._)
“The man who sheds the blood of an ox or sheep, will be habituated
more easily than another to witness the effusion of that of his fellow
men; inhumanity takes possession of his soul; and the professions
whose object is to sacrifice animals for the purpose of supplying the
supposed necessities of men, impart to those who exercise them, a
ferocity which their relative connexions with society but imperfectly
serve to mitigate.” (_Encyclopedie Methodique._ Tome VII. Part. 1. liv.
65.)
“India, in fact, of all the regions of the earth, is the only public
theatre of justice and tenderness to brutes, and all living creatures;
for there, not confining murder to the killing of man, they religiously
abstain from taking the life of the meanest animal.” (_Ovington’s
Voyage to Surat_, p. 296.)
“The Gentoos rear numerous herds of cattle; but such is their
veneration for these animals, on account of their useful and patient
services to man, that to kill, or even maim one of them, is deemed a
capital offence.” (_M. de Page’s Travels_, Vol. II. p. 27.)