The cause and prevention of decay in teeth : an investigation into the causes of the prevalence of dental caries : to which are appended some suggestions on its prevention / by J. Sim Wallace.

  • Wallace, J. Sim (James Sim), 1869-1951.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The cause and prevention of decay in teeth : an investigation into the causes of the prevalence of dental caries : to which are appended some suggestions on its prevention / by J. Sim Wallace. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    perhaps by boring through and breaking up the softened dentine.'''' * Bearing in mind what caries is, we may next pro eeed to consider the conditions under which it takes place. A variable number of micro-organisms are always present in the mouth, which, being a moist warm chamber richly supplied with food, might almost be compared to well-devised incubator in which the micro-organisms multiply. At some places—e.g., in the hollows of, and spaces between, the teeth—these micro-organisms arc liable to be present in considerable numbers, and in these places too a certain amount of the food which was intended for the stomach is liable to lodge, together with epithelial cells, salivary mucus, and debris from various sources. When food and micro-organisms are left together in the mouth fermentation is set up, the numerous pro- ducts of which are given rise to. The products of the oral micro-organisms vary both with the kinds of organisms and with the nutritive media in which they live. In genera], if they live in an albuminous medium the products are those of putrefaction, and give rise to an alkaline reaction. In a saccharine, amylaceous, or mixed medium, acid products are the result. When acid fermentation takes place and a certain percentage of acid is formed in the medium, the further production of acid is retarded and ultimately stopped when the percentage of acid reaches about -75.t o Tomes, J. and C. S., Dental Surgery, fourth edition, p. 255. t Miller, Micro-organisms of the Human Mouth, p. 14.