REPLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING TEETH.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 68, 18 January 1879, Page 3

REPLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING TEETH.

Dr, (I. It. Thomas, of Detroit, in tho current number of tho Dental Cosmos, states that this operation of "replanting" has become so common with him, and the results so uniformly Satisfactory, that be does not hesitate to perform it on any tooth in the mouth, if the cose demands it ; and he finds the eases that demand it, and tho number that In; operates upon, continually, multiplying. lie makes it a point to examine the end of tho roots of nearly all his eases of abscessed teeth ; and a record of more than ISO cases, with but one loss (and that in the Mouth of a man so timid that he Utterly rsfu ed to bear tho pain which nearly always follows for a few minutes, therefore necessitating re-extraction), convinres him that tho operation is not only practical, but decidedly beneficial to to both put lant and n|>erutur. P<» oiiee .•itliiig is all that ho hua over really found

MCMtan to the full and complete resto ration .it the CMS.

; 11l tin- present article, however. l>r j Thomas stats that it a his object not to I much to ipeak of replanting its of transplanting, which he has reason to beliove is just as practical, so far as the mere reaitachment p concerned, u is replant big. lie details, in illustration, a case in which he successfully performed the operation : inserting in the mouth of a gentleman, who had lost a right superior dilapidate, a solid and healthy tooth that he had moved from a lady's mouth four weeks previously. He opened into a canal and palp dumber of tie- tooth, faom the apex of the root only; cut the end off one eighth of an inch (it being that much too long), reduced the size somewhat in the center of the root (it being a trifle larger than the root extracted), filled ami placed it in position, lie states that the occlusion, shape, and color Were perfect, so much so that several dentists who saw the ease weie not able to distinguish the transplanted tooth from the others. Tietwo features in the casotlmt he calls particular attention to are : first, that although the tooth had been in his oltice four weeks, there is to-day no perceptible uhange in color; and second, that the roaetachmens is as perfect as though it had been transplanted or replanted the same day of cntraction. The operation was performed about three months ago. Dr, Thomas knows of but two obstacles in the way of the perfect practicability of "transplanting: first, the difficulty of obtaining the proper teeth at the proper time; and second, the possibility of inoculation. The latter is the mora formidable of the two, and to escape the ills that might follow, the greatest caution is necessary. The first difficulty is more easily he gotten over, for it is not necessary that the tooth transplcnted should correspond exactly in shape and size to the one extracted : if it is to large, it may be carefully reduced ; or if too small, new osseous deposit will supply the deficiency. Neither is it necessary, as we have seen, that the transplanted tooth should be a freshlv extracted one.