A letter to Daniel Drake, M.D., on the cause of premature decay in the deciduous teeth : in which is embodied a review of the discussion of the Miss. Valley Association of Dental Surgeons, upon the same subject / by Scrutator.

Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to Daniel Drake, M.D., on the cause of premature decay in the deciduous teeth : in which is embodied a review of the discussion of the Miss. Valley Association of Dental Surgeons, upon the same subject / by Scrutator. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the Dental Profession, that such an opinion should emenate from such a body of its professional men. I now come to the second object of this letter, that of attempting an answer to your first question, which, according to my understanding of the subject, the Mississippi Valley Association of Dental Surgeons have utterly failed to give. In making this effort I shall be very brief. I shall content myself by simply stating facts, without entering into any minute details. The strict interpretation of your question embraces an enquiry into all kinds of decay to which the deciduous teeth are liable. Now as there are two prominent causes of this kind of decay in the temporary teeth—causes which differ from each other both in their nature and the time of life at which they commence—it is important, therefore, that they should be here referred to. The one is almost identical with the prevailing cause of caries in the permanent teeth, and usually com- mences its ravages in the molars, and that about the fifth or sixth year of the child's age. The other may be said to be sui-genus. It shows itself most frequently in the incisors, and is liable to commence at any period, from the time the teeth first show themselves through the gums up to that when dentition is fully completed. Believing that your inqui- ries were intended only to embrace the last mentioned cause of disease in the deciduous teeth, I shall therefore confine my answer solely to a description of this cause ; deferring all further notice of the other un- til I come to reply to your second question respecting the premature decay of the permanent teeth. The diathesis, or constitutional predisposition, or disorder, which so often occasions decay in the teeth of our children, is remotely constitutional in its nature, and appears to partake both of a scrofu- lous and of an acquired vice:—of a scrofulous vice, because it is most prone to attack the teeth of scrofulous subjects:—of an acquired vice, because the general system must be likewise much impaired for a short- er or a longer period beiore the immediate cause of the caries of the teeth is induced. The immediate cause of the decay is a malignant ulcer, most gener- ally peculiar to the gums, but occasionly attacking the cheek. The ulcer is most liable to occur at three particular epochs of a child's life, and appears to increase in malignancy with the child's in- crease of years. The first period, and most common and mildest form of the disease, occurs during the cutting of the incisor teeth. It sometimes commen- ces with the first appearance of these teeth ; sometimes not until they have all acquired their full length through the gums. The ulcer is generally confined to the extreme edge of the gums, re- vealing only a small light, ash-colored, zigzag line, so small that it is rarely detected by either physician or nurse. Upon a close examina- tion, the edge of the gum will be found separated from the teeth, and the body of the ulcer plainly seen between the edge of the gum and necks of the teeth. The gum reveals but little signs of inflamation, is not very sensitive.