EXTRACTION OF TEETH. 7 



wards from the incisors. The slant of the teeth is most 

 marked at the ends of the row and at the middle they 

 acquire a practically perpendicular position. In drawing 

 the last molar the forceps will generally strike against 

 the opposite row of teeth before the tooth has com- 

 pletely emerged from its socket and in order to complete its 

 removal it may be necessary to take a deeper hold with the 

 forceps or remove with the exporteur forceps or with the 

 fingers. In young horses where the teeth are very long we 

 have found it impossible to complete the extraction until the 

 tooth had been divided transversely by means of the tooth 

 cutting forceps. 



With the premolars the fulcrum is placed beneath the ex- 

 tension beyond the jaws of the forceps which through its 

 fulcrum then rests upon the grinding surface posterior to the 

 diseased tooth and permits it to be withdrawn obliquely from 

 before backward in its normal line of direction. 



The dangers in the extraction of teeth are chiefly : 



1. The fracture of the tooth crown leaving the fang still 

 fixed in the alveolus, a danger not infrequently unavoidable 

 when the crown has become greatly weakened by disease so 

 that it wants the power of resistance necessary to its extrac- 

 tion ; under most other conditions it may be largely guarded 

 against by the careful securing of the patient in a manner 

 to effectively prevent sudden throwing of the head while the 

 forceps are applied, and by using good judgment in the 

 amount of force used while loosening the tooth in its alveolus. 



2. Fracture of the alveolar walls is an accident which may 

 generally be prevented by proper care in the application of 

 force and the avoidance of any attempt to extract a tooth 

 when the existence of an enlargement of the fang is apparent 

 or suspected. 



3. The tooth may slip from the forceps into the pharynx 

 and be swallowed, an accident avoidable by inserting the 

 hand into the mouth along with the forceps as the tooth be- 

 gins to emerge and if need be grasp it with the fingers. 



