The youth's dentist, or, The way to have sound and beautiful teeth ... / by J.R. Duval ; translated and supplied with notes by J. Atkinson.

  • Jacques René Duval
Date:
1848
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The youth's dentist, or, The way to have sound and beautiful teeth ... / by J.R. Duval ; translated and supplied with notes by J. Atkinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    The palate is agreeably affected by ices and sherbets, which are, therefore, often eagerly sought after; but when they come in contact with those organs, to whose action they should not be subjected, they prove by an ungrateful sensation, the truth of an aphorism of Hippocrates, cold is hurtful to the teeth: he also adds, that it congeals, as heat burns them ;* the sudden transition from one to the other always renders those agents more dangerous. It is proverbial, that hot soup sets the teeth on edge,t but may not the cold wine which is drank afterwards contribute'to it; the action of a freezing air after boiling tea, renders the teeth sensible and painful, and tends to their de- struction. Hence it is supposed by careful observers, arises that difference which exists between the teeth of the savage, and of the civilized being; in the former they are always good and solid; in the latter they are generally painful, loose and ca- rious. The former lives chiefly on roots, fruits, and raw flesh; while the latter usually takes food hot and artfully prepared: but are the different maladies which affect the teeth to be at- tributed entirely to the aliments ? May they not also depend upon all those causes which derange the health of man ; and which are more frequent in proportion to the habits of refine- ment in which he lives. Those animals which dwell with man, and which partake of the charms and the pains of civilized society, are not exempt from diseases of the teeth, which may sometimes be observed in dogs; an example of which is given by Phedre; who speaks of a dog with carious teeth, which had not the power to stop a wild boar: it may also be seen in horses, whose teeth are sometimes affected with caries, or dis- figured with traces of atrophy ; some specimens of which I bacco is also corroborated by the removal of some chronic diseases and the uni- form improvement of the health in those cases where I have seen it discon- tinued, t I, K« Were it not that 1 deem it improper to lengthen this digression, I should oe tempted to enlarge upon the subject; but I refer the reader for further informa- tion, to a Treatise upon the subject, by Dr. Adam Clark. • Frigidum inimicum ossibus, dentibus. Sect, v, aph. 13. ] Pultes fervenles faciunt corrumpere dentes.