A system of dental surgery / by the late Sir John Tomes.

  • John Tomes
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of dental surgery / by the late Sir John Tomes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    109/764 page 97
    true origin of the groove on the canine was not recognised, the presence or absence of similar marks on the incisors is not mentioned. Teeth described as “ syphilitic ” have a dusky, opaque appearance, and are small relatively to the size of the jaws, so that distinct intervals are left between them; moreover, they are of a very soft character, so that they speedily become worn down, and the characteristic transverse notch obliterated. It must, however, be borne in mind that even though the association of teeth of this form with inherited syphilis is fully established, it by no means necessarily follows that they are the direct result of attacks of stomatitis. The influence of inherited syphilis is capable of profoundly modifying the nutrition of many parts of the body, and it is quite as likely that its effects would be brought about directly, as that they should be manifested secondarily through the intervention of an attack of stomatitis. Moreover, constitutional syphilis attacks the hair, the nails, and the skin generally with great frequency, and the homo- logical relation which exists between the teeth and various dermal appendages may serve, if not to explain, at least to render less surprising the fact that the developing teeth should be a chosen site for its manifestation. It has been pointed out by Trousseau Q) that the various syphilitic affections of the mouth in a child ai'e rarely seen before the second week, and seldom manifested after the eighth month (unless they have previously made their appearance). It becomes, then, a matter of importance, in deciding upon the correctness of Mr. Hutchinson’s views, which have been unreservedly accepted in a paper by Mr. Berkeley Hill (2), to ascertain with precision the extent to which calcification has proceeded in the affected teeth at this period of the child’s development. Unfortunately, the jaws to be found in museums have almost invariably been macerated, and the minute calci- tying tips of the permanent teeth lost, so that it is not easy to acquire definite knowledge on the subject; moreover, the (‘) Trousseau. Clinical Lectures (New Sydenham Society’s translation). “ On Infantile Syphilis.” ' (2) Monthly Review of Dental Science. June, 1872.
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