coverings of the head, ae dow in 
of cold air. It is also caused by too hot or tho: ooh 
quantities of sugar, sweetmeats, &c. ; cracking nuts with th 
filing or scraping the teeth, ee the enamel. Breeding 
mer are very subject to it. e* 
- ‘The tooth-ach often proceeds from neorbae humors, irritating the 
nerves and affecting the gums; from scurvy and foulness of the 
gums ; and from-weakness of the solids. Ifan ulcer is formed in 
the gum, or root of the tooth, the pain will continue till _ is 
opened. 
-'Tus Cure.—I cannot approve of the common pinion raw 
the teeth for all kinds of tooth-ach, even when they are. cacaped hte . 
or none; tusEhhatesncalh hncutincy deals vaapieg ‘in after Jife, re- _ 
gretting this foolish destruction, when too late. And I amthe more 
convinced that it is unnecessary, because, with the means here re- — 
commended, I — seldom failed of giving relief to this distressing 
disorder. 
My method, which may appear novel to some, is simply to burn off 
the nerve of the teeth, where it passes through the outer part of the 
ear, thereby destroying the power of sensation in the teeth. Some 
may suppose that this will injure the teeth; but they must recollect 
that it is the sensitive nerve only, that is destroyed, which is ne 
cessary to the nutrition of the teeth. Besides, an experience of thirt e! 
years has taught me, that, instead of injuring the teeth, of which IT 
never knew an instance, it actually preserves them from gdesay, by, 
removing the cause of irritation. d 
‘This nerve, however, which wholly supplies the eS 3 jaw, 
partially extends over the upper jaw ; and for that reason, the de- 
struction of it is not always a certain relief to the pain in the teeth 
of the upper jaw; particularly when it is connected with a spectes 
of rheumatic pain in the face. While, therefore, this operation, 
when well done, puts a certain end to all tooth-ach in the lower jaw, 
it may fail of giving entire relief in the upper jaw in perhaps half the 
cases, although it renders it far less liable to a return. : 
Iam not without authority for this mode of euring the tooth-aeh. 
Monro, who wrote more than an hundred years since, after de- 
_ seribing the course and use of this nerve, has RO Es 
_ = 4©We may have some distant views _of some foundation io seinen 
_ forthe cure of the tooth-ach, by strong compression of the chin, or 
by applying blisters behind ‘the ears, or by burning behind or on 
the ear. Among a at many instances of the good effect ofthe 
actual cautery ins F case, E shall give one which seems to be — 
remarkable: J. M. w: ized with the tooth-ach, a convulsionofthat —_ 
whole side of his face followed whenever the pain became acute, Or 
he attempted to speak. After he had undergone bleeding, purging, 
salivation, setons, &c., without any benefit, he was cured, by a 
ing a small cauterising iron to the antihelix”—[the inner 
the auricle, or outer ear.] 
his nerve may generally he seen crossing the ridge 
s th middle of the ear, ge above Sbaen 
