The barbers and tooth-drawers, he says, must well remember this rule, in order to avoid extracting, thoughtlessly and with no benefit, sound teeth, since then the pain persists in spite of the operation. Also, it must be borne in mind that, in case of violent pain, it is necessary to operate as soon as possible, so that the patient may not faint or be attacked by the falling sickness, if the pain should be communicated to the heart or brain.
The idea that violent dental pains could give rise to syncope or to epilepsy (in regard to which we only observe that even very recent writers enumerate dental caries among the causes of the so-called reflex epilepsy) is also found in Giovanni d’Arcoli, who expresses himself in regard to this in the following terms: “Such very violent pains are sometimes followed by syncope or epilepsy, through injury communicated to the heart or brain.”[279]
“The most atrocious pain,” says Ryff, “is when an apostema ripens in the root;” literal translation of words written about a century before by Arculanus: “Fortissima dolor est, qui provenit ab apostemate, quod in radice dentis maturatur.”
Likewise taken from Arculanus is the observation (already made, however, by much more ancient writers) that “when the cheeks swell, toothache ceases.” Arculanus, however, expresses himself in a less absolute manner, and therefore more corresponding to the truth, since he says “the pain generally ceases” (secundum plurimum dolor sedatur).
Even in regard to the therapeutics of dental pains, Ryff does not tell us anything new. Dr. Geist-Jacobi gives this author the merit of having made, in regard to the cure of dental pains, a distinction between cura mendosa (that is, imperfect, palliative, tending simply to calm the pain) and cura vera (that is, directed against the causes of the disease). But this very important distinction is also taken from Arculanus, who in his turn took it from Mesue. In fact, after having spoken of the general rules relative to the cure of dental diseases, Giovanni of Arcoli adds: “As to the particular therapy, it is divided into cura mendosa and cura vera, as may be found in Mesue. And the cura mendosa is so called because it calms the pain by abolishing sensibility, not by taking away the cause of it. Such is, for the sake of example, the cure, consisting in fumigations of henbane, made to reach the diseased tooth by means of a small tube, adapted to a funnel.”
The third part of Ryff’s pamphlet has as its title:
“How the pains of the gums should be calmed or mitigated in suckling infants, so as to promote the cutting of the teeth without pain.”
This part, as Geist-Jacobi informs us, is very brief, not taking up more than a page and one-half of print. Neither does it contain anything of importance. To render the cutting of teeth easier, Ryff advises that infants should have little wax candles given to them to chew and the gums anointed with butter, duck’s fat, hare’s brains, and the like. The tooth of a wolf may be hung around the neck of the child, so that it may gnaw at it. It is also recommended that the head of the child should be bathed with an infusion of chamomile.
From what has been said, one may see very clearly that the aforesaid book is, from the scientific point of view, entirely valueless, because the best part of it is merely copied from the work of Giovanni d’Arcoli. However, the author has the indisputable merit of having endeavored to diffuse the knowledge of useful precepts of dental hygiene. His book, besides, we repeat, has great historical value, for from it dates the beginning of odontologic literature, properly so called.