306 BEEANaEMENTS OE THE TEETH. 



secures tte tongue, he, by the aid of suitable forceps, if possible, 

 extracts the tooth. Sometimes it is so far decayed as to have , 

 become a mere shell, which in grasping with forceps is crushed 

 into fragments, when its further extraction by this mode may 

 be rendered impracticable. In a case of this kind, especially 

 where the animal is valuable, and where the tooth diseased is a 

 top molar one, and where a sinus passes from its aveolar cavity 

 into the nasal cavity above, it then becomes necessary to extract 

 the fangs of the tooth ; and this can only be affected by making 

 an opening into the mouth at the side of the cheek — an opera- 

 tion which is difficult to perform, and which is beyond the 

 scope of the present work to treat upon. Should the operator, 

 however, succeed in. extracting the tooth as directed above, a 

 difficulty in possibility should also be taken into account, and 

 provided for accordingly. The difSculty I aUude to is this : — 

 the opposing tooth of the opposite jaw not having the extracted 

 tooth any longer to contend against, it wiU in time so increase 

 in length as in the end to prevent mastication. Two modes of 

 dealing with this possible difficulty are presented to notice : one 

 is to remove the sound tooth at the time the diseased one is 

 extracted ; and the other is to leave it in the mouth, and as it 

 becomes too long, to reduce it from time to time as necessity 

 may requir6. The choice of these modes, in any case which 

 may happen, I leave to the judgment of the operator, and those 

 to whom the patient may belong. 



Diet. — The kind-of diet necessary in these ^ases will be an 

 important matter for consideration. Hay and the coarser vari- 

 eties of food, if allowed, would probably retard the cure, in. 

 consequence of portions being insinuated into the cavity made 

 by extracting the diseased tooth. The diet should therefore 

 (for a time at least) consist of thick gruel, bread and milk, 



