Dental materia medica and therapeutics : with special reference to the rational application of remedial measures to dental diseases a textbook for students and practitioners / by Hermann Prinz.

  • Prinz, Hermann, 1868-1957
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dental materia medica and therapeutics : with special reference to the rational application of remedial measures to dental diseases a textbook for students and practitioners / by Hermann Prinz. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    many alliLsions aro made to the teeth and their care. 8o we read, for instance ; Esse quid hoc dicam, quod olent tua basia myrrham? How do I explain it that your kiss smells after of myrrh? Myrrh, which was brought from Asia j\Iinor and Egypt, seems to have been quite a favorite mouth preparation with the Roman ladies. Aside from its use as a mouth wash, it was also applied in combination with other fragrant gums as mouth pastilles (cachous) : Ne gravis hesterno fragres, Frescennia, vino Pastillas Cosmi, luxuriosa, voras. That the breath of your mouth may not smell from yesterday’s wine, Frescennia, you use Cosmus’ mouth pastilles. Artificial teeth seem to have been quite fashionable witli the Roman dames, as the following would indicate: Dentibus atque comis, nec te pudet, uteris emtis; Quid facies oculo, Laelia? Non emitur. Without shame you make show with bought teeth and hair; But what about the eye, Laelia; can one buy this also? Specimens of Etruscan dentistry in the form of bridges, crowns, bands, etc., are still preserved in the National Museum of Naples. The patron saint of dentistry, St. Apollonia, was canonized in Rome about 300 A. D. Being a Christian, St. Apollonia was tortured bj^ her persecutors by having her teeth, one by one, ex- tracted, and finally suffered death by fire. Her memory is com- memorated on February 9th of each year. Remains of her skele- ton are preserved in the various churches of Rome, Naples, Cologne, Antwerp, Brussels, and Quebec, and excellent pictures of the saint by Guido Reni, Carlo Dolci, and otliers are found in Milan, Florence, and other cities. Tlie name of St. Apollonia is frequently mentioned in ]»rayers in the various ])rayer books of the middle ages, and is especially intended for the relief of toothache. Comparatively little progress in dentistry is to be recorded dur- ing the middle ages. Arabian and Persian medicine was at its height during the ninth to the twelfth centuries, and the names