A study of the degeneracy of the jaws of the human race / by Eugene S. Talbot.
- Talbot, Eugene S. (Eugene Solomon), 1847-1924.
- Date:
- 1892
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A study of the degeneracy of the jaws of the human race / by Eugene S. Talbot. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the University of Toronto, Harry A Abbott Dentistry Library, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harry A Abbott Dentistry Library, University of Toronto.
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![the same mouth and on the same side. There seems to be a want of proper deposition of calcium salts, as well as a lack of proper crystal- lization and life-giving properties after they have been deposited. Large fissures and pits are noticed, not only in the sulci, but are very commonly found in other parts of tooth-substance where we would naturally expect to find strong, healthy tooth-structure. The crowns are much smaller, as compared with the other molars on the same side, and are always irregular in shape, sometimes long and some- times short; frequently they will be serrated or scalloped, and occa- sionally they have the appearance of two teeth fused together. Harris * says of the third molar that it is both shorter and smaller than the other molars, and that the roots of the upper are occasionally united, while the lower has usually but one root. Wedl : The crowns of the wisdom-teeth, especially the upper ones, are most frequently stunted in their growth. Dwarfish growth affects these teeth most frequently and occurs by itself, often unaccompanied by any other de- formity. '' Mr. John Tomesf says, '' First molars will be found to be the most constant, and the third molars the least constant, in the number, shape, and position of their roots. Mr. Felix Weiss;]: says that this tooth varies not only in shape, but also in size. Mr. Chas. S. Tomes § remarks that among civilized races it is almost exceptional for the upper wisdom-tooth to be regular in form or position, so that extreme variability prevails among these teeth. It erupts at different periods, but in most cases it appears about the twentieth year. || But in twenty-five per cent, of the cases it was found to be absent.^ These statistics were computed from three hundred and twelve cases. Dr. Van Marter,** of Rome, made an examination of the skulls of the Umbrian and Etruscan races, which existed 500 B.C., with the same results. The influences which are at work upon the teeth of the people of the present day act in the same manner as did environments, cus- toms, and habits in those early days. I am of the opinion that the third molar is later in its eruption than in former years. In accordance with the eruption of the other molars, this tooth should make its appearance at about the eighteenth year. Occasionally this is found to be the case, but it is my experience that in a largemajority of cases it does not erupt until after the twenty-fourth year, and frequently not until the twenty-sixth or thirtieth year. This can easily be accounted for. if the germ is present, from the fact that the jaw does not develop sufficiently to allow it to come through into place. This retarded con- dition is also due to the fact that at the points where all the other teeth are located, soft, spongy bone or alveolar process is found, and absorption of tissue takes place more readily at these points than at the point of eruption of the third molar, which is made up of true bone, which is dense and hard. Frequently, for want of room, it will erupt until it comes in contact with the second molar and then stop, in which case only a small part of the tooth will be presented. On the ■'^Dental Surgery. t Pathology of the Teeth. t Proceedings of the Odontological.^gciety of Great Britain, in Bri^. Jour. Dent. Set., vol. xix, page 256. ! ; ;.,' •'l ■'. ','• ', ,' ? Dental Anatomy. .*>. '. ;, V ; '•, ;'■ 'jj Wedi'; Felix Weiss. 11 FeHx W'eiss. ''• J '';,«••. . . ' * Independe^it Practitioner.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21202643_0033.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
