Dental disease in its relation to general medicine / by J.F. Colyer ; with the assistance of Stanley Colyer.

  • Frank Colyer
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dental disease in its relation to general medicine / by J.F. Colyer ; with the assistance of Stanley Colyer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    109/208 (page 97)
    connected with the appearance of the disease in man, which may assist in an attempt to trace its pathology. In non-mouth-breathers the disease commences in the molar region, and gradually spreads to the anterior teeth; while in mouth-breathers the disease starts in the incisor region. The commencement of the disease in the non- mouth-breathers occurs in the region where food is most likely to lodge, and it is probable that the initial lesion is an injury to the gingive from food débris. The fact that in mouth-breathers the disease commences in the incisor region is instructive. If the mouth of a child affected with mouth-breathing, but with functional molars, be examined, a gingivitis will be found affecting the incisor teeth, more particularly the mandibular ones. The absence of gingivitis in the molar region is due to the fact that the function of this part of the mouth is being properly performed; the friction of mastication, and possibly the rubbing of the buccal mucous membrane against the gums, removes the superficial layers of epithelium, and stimulates a healthy reaction in the tissues. In the front of the mouth the normal friction of the lips against the gums is absent, the surface epithelium as well as the débris of food and micro- organisms accumulates, and injury results to the gingivee. As long as mouth-breathing continues the gingivitis persists owing to the constant injury, and eventually the periodontal membrane becomes involved. There is little doubt, therefore, that, with mouth-breathers, the initia] Stage of the disease is a localized injury to the gingives of the anterior teeth. The consensus of opinion is that, in established cases of alveolar suppuration, one or other of the pathogenic cocci—the streptococcus, pheumococcus, staphylococcus, or Micrococcus catarrhalis—is present ; and, in addition, 7