Fauchard’s simple pelican (with one changeable hook).
Fauchard’s double pelican.
To steady loose teeth,[457] Fauchard, as did the ancients, made use of gold threads. When the spaces separating a loose tooth from the neighboring ones were too large, he introduced small pieces of hippopotamus ivory into them of about the height of a line, and not exceeding the tooth itself in thickness; on each side of these was a vertical groove destined to serve as a support to the next tooth. Each of these pieces was furnished with two holes, through which were passed the gold threads which served to bind together the teeth and the piece of ivory itself. This latter was fixed close down to the gum.
Dental forceps (Fauchard).
Fauchard occupies himself in three different chapters (X, XI, XII) at great length with the extraction of teeth. He describes a pelican of his own invention, and speaks of the advantages it presents over other pelicans previously in use. Notwithstanding this, it cannot be said that the instruments used by Fauchard for extracting teeth and roots show a sensible improvement on those in use before his time.