A History of Dentistry from the most Ancient Times until the end of the Eighteenth Century. Vincenzo Guerini

A History of Dentistry from the most Ancient Times until the end of the Eighteenth Century - Vincenzo Guerini


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registered in the works of Hippocrates, the following deserves special mention:

      “When a person has an ulcer of long duration on the margin of the tongue, one should examine the teeth on that side, to see if some one of them does not, by chance, present a sharp point.”88

      In fact, it not infrequently occurs that a lingual ulcer deriving from irritation produced by a broken or sharp tooth assumes a malignant aspect that causes it to be mistaken for a cancerous ulcer, and medical men may even be so far misled as to advise the extreme remedy of amputation of the tongue. If, however, the consulting surgeon has some experience, he will not neglect in the first place to examine accurately the state of the patient’s teeth; it then mostly happens that after the removal of the offending tooth a complete cure is obtained in a brief space of time. How much anxiety would not such poor sufferers be spared if physicians in general were acquainted with the counsel given by Hippocrates twenty-four centuries ago!

      In speaking of fracture of the lower jaw, Hippocrates recommends binding the teeth next to the lesion together. He distinguishes between the complete and the incomplete fracture; he then speaks separately of the fracture of the symphysis. Treating of the incomplete fracture, he says:

      “If the teeth in proximity of the lesion be shaken, one ought, after having reduced the fracture, to bind them one to the other, until the consolidation of the bone, using preferably gold wire for the purpose; but if this be wanting, linen thread can be used instead, and not only ought the two teeth next to the site of the fracture to be bound, but several of the others besides.”89

      Fig. 9

Two Greek appliances

      Two Greek appliances existing in the Archæological Museum of Athens.

      Farther on, when speaking of complete fractures, he renews this advice in these words:

      “After having carried out the coaptation, the teeth ought, as we have said already, to be bound one to the other; this greatly contributes to obtaining the immobility of the fragments, particularly if properly carried out.”90

      Also, in cases of fracture of the symphysis, Hippocrates recommends “binding the teeth together on the right and left of the lesion.” And after having spoken of the best adapted means of constraint in such kinds of fractures, he adds: “If the reduction has been well performed, and the part kept in proper repose, the consolidation takes place in a short time and the teeth do not undergo any damage; in the contrary case, the cure is retarded, the fragments reunite in a bad position, and the teeth are injured and become useless.”91

      From what we have referred, it is easy to perceive how much importance Hippocrates attached to the dental system, what knowledge he possessed as to the pathological conditions of the teeth, the gums, and the jaws, and what means of treatment he used. But in what relates to therapy it will perhaps not be useless to make some further observations.

      One of Hippocrates’ aphorisms says:

      “Cold is the enemy of the bones, the teeth, the nerves, the brain, and the spinal marrow.”92

      From this it is easy to conclude that Hippocrates was no friend to hydrotherapic treatment, and that he considered the use of cold drinks bad for the teeth, and cold applications harmful in dental diseases.

      The idea expressed in the aphorism just quoted is to be found repeated in the book entitled On the Use of Liquids;93 and in this same treatise we find vinegar recommended shortly after in cases of burning of the teeth (an expression probably meant to indicate those pathological conditions of the teeth and gums which are accompanied by a sense of burning).

      Some of the Hippocratic maxims, full of wisdom and good sense, will forever conserve their importance, whatever be the degree of perfection to which medical science may come.

      “Diseases, says he, should be combated in their origin;”94 which is as much as to say, that it is not enough to apply symptomatic or palliative means of cure, but that it is necessary, rather to seek and to combat the true causes of disease. And in another place we find written:

      “One should take care of two things in illnesses—to do good and not to do harm. The art of curing includes three terms: the malady, the patient, and the doctor. The latter is the minister of the art; the patient has to combat the malady together with him.”95

      It is only too true, that not all the representatives of the healing art keep sufficiently in view the precept to do good and not to do harm; nor do all patients comport themselves in such a manner as to contribute, in accordance with Hippocrates’ wise counsel, to the work of their own cure.

      Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of antiquity, was born at Stagira, in Macedonia, and lived from 384 to 322 B.C. He wrote most excellent works on all branches of human knowledge, and was the founder of Natural History and Comparative Anatomy. His acquaintance with anatomy as illustrated principally in his treatise On the Different Parts of Animals, is absolutely extraordinary for the time in which he lived. One chapter of this work96 is altogether dedicated to the study of the teeth; but he also speaks of these organs in many other of his works, particularly in his History of Animals, which is a real and proper treatise on zoölogy, wherein the author records a great number of notes about the peculiarities presented by the dental system, in the different classes of animals.

      In spite of the great errors into which he has fallen, his ideas about the teeth are, taken as a whole, quite worthy of attention, especially when one considers the remote epoch in which this great philosopher wrote. We will here give a brief notice of the most important of his observations relating to the dental organs.

      The form, the disposition, the number of the teeth, varies in animals, according to the quality of their food and according to whether the teeth serve merely to divide and to chew the alimentary substances, or as instruments of offence and defence as well. In man, the teeth serve principally for mastication, but the front ones have, besides, another most important office, namely, that of assisting in the articulation of words, in the pronunciation of certain letters.

      In those animals in which the teeth also serve as weapons, it is to be observed either that some of them protrude like those of the boar, or that they are sharp and saw-like in their disposition, as in the lion, the panther, the dog, etc. No animal possesses at the same time protruding and saw-like teeth.

      The teeth are not always equal in number in both jaws; the animals provided with horns have no teeth in the front of the upper jaw; this, however, is also to be observed in animals without horns, as for example, in the camel. Among the animals provided with horns there are none which have protruding or saw-like teeth.

      In general, the front teeth are pointed and the back ones broad. Nevertheless, all the teeth of the seal are pointed, with a saw-like disposition, perhaps because this animal marks the transition from the quadruped to the fish, all of which, with few exceptions, have their teeth formed in that way. Animals with saw-like teeth have generally very large mouths.

      No animal has ever more than one row of teeth in each jaw; however, says Aristotle, if Ctesias97 is to be believed, there is an animal in India, named marticora, which has a triple row of teeth.

      The molar teeth are never changed either in man or in any known animal; the pig never changes its teeth.

      One can judge the age of many animals by their teeth. As the animal grows older, the teeth become darker in color, except in the case of the horse, whose teeth grow whiter with age.

      The last molars are cut by men and women about the twentieth year; but in some cases, and especially with women, they have been known to come forth—not without pain—very much later, even so late as at eighty years of age.

      The man has more teeth than the woman; this peculiarity is also to be found in the female of some animals (such as sheep, goats, and pigs).

      Individuals provided with many teeth generally live the longest, those instead who have fewer teeth (or simply far apart) are generally shorter lived.

      The


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