128 EARLY DESTRUCTION OF THE TEETH. 



tical dentist, that chemical action, arising from 

 decomposed particles of food retained in those pits, 

 fissures, and interstices, which I have had occasion 

 so frequently to describe, must be the cause of the 

 destruction of the teeth. But in order that proper 

 means may be employed to remedy this evil, it 

 becomes equally necessary that the patient should 

 have a correct knowledge of the exciting cause, and 

 of the insidious character of the destructive agent. 

 He must be in possession of the facts that the attack 

 is made from without, and never from within ; that 

 the mischief begins upon the surface of the tooth ; 

 that the enamel and bone are insensible to pain ; 

 and that it is only after these parts have been 

 destroyed, and the membrane within exposed, that 

 pain is produced. He must disabuse his mind of 

 the erroneous notion of inflammation being the 

 exciting cause of decay, and of the mistaken idea of 

 his teeth being in a state of perfect safety in the 

 absence of pain. The patient must also be convinced 

 of the necessity of looking into his own mouth, and 

 making himself familiar with the form and arrange- 

 ment of his teeth, in order that he may ascertain 

 whether it be possible, by means of the brush, to 

 remove the remains of food from all their parts ; 

 and if, from the irregular formation of their enamel 

 or the peculiarity of their shape, he finds this to be 

 impossible, he must then have recourse to the 

 dentist, who, by exercising his art, may remedy 

 the evil : and if it were possible to keep the teeth 



