104 EARLY DESTRUCTION OF THE TEETH. 



the painful tooth is concerned, the mischief has 

 become irremediable, and the only resource left will 

 be its removal. 



The parts with which the medical man has to 

 deal are highly organized, and possess the power 

 of restoration ; but it is not so with the teeth ; in 

 them, as we shall presently show, there is no power 

 of restoration ; if they are to be preserved, disease 

 must be prevented. For when the membrane of a 

 tooth has been laid open by the destruction of a 

 portion of the enamel and bone which surround it, 

 it continues exposed, the constitution having no 

 power of restoring or repairing the breach which 

 caries has made ; and any attempt to stop up the 

 cavity by artificial means would only irritate the 

 already inflamed membrane, and thus increase the 

 pain. 



The dentist is not the only individual who ought 

 to have a correct knowledge of the cause of the 

 destruction of the teeth : it is equally necessary that 

 the patient should be aware of the insidious nature 

 of the destructive agent, otherwise he will fail to 

 apply for assistance until it is too late. I am weU 

 aware of the difficulty there is in persuading a 

 person to avoid an evil which he has never expe- 

 rienced ; and particularly so if the mind has been 

 impressed with the mistaken idea that inflamma- 

 tion is the exciting cause of decay ; for under this 

 impression he naturally concludes that because there 

 is no pain, there is no disease, and that it will be 



