Set of fourteen dental scrapers (Abulcasis).
Twelve dental scrapers as represented in another manuscript codex of Abulcasis.
We now consider the chapter on the extraction of teeth.[214] The author begins by saying that it is necessary to use all possible means to cure an attack of odontalgia, and to be very slow in deciding to extract a tooth, as this is a very noble organ, the want of which cannot in any way be perfectly supplied. When there is no way of avoiding extraction and the patient is obliged by pain to submit to this, it is necessary first to ascertain which is the aching tooth, as very often the pain deceives the patient, so that he may indicate as the seat of the pain another tooth which is perfectly sound, and desire it to be extracted; after which, naturally, the pain does not cease, if not when the diseased tooth is also extracted, as often happens in the hands of the barbers.[215] The aching tooth having been well ascertained, it is necessary to detach the gum from the tooth, all around, with a sufficiently strong scalpel. Then either with the fingers or with a light pair of forceps the tooth must be shaken very gently, until it is loosened. Then the surgeon, keeping the head of the patient firmly between his knees, applies a stronger pair of forceps and extracts the tooth in a straight direction, so as not to break it. If it is not possible to draw it out, one of those elevators must be taken which the author advises for the extraction of roots (as may be seen afterward), and by insinuating it under the tooth the surgeon must endeavor to extract it. When the tooth is corroded and hollow, it is necessary to fill the cavity with lint, compressing it hard inside with the end of a probe,[216] so that the tooth may not break under the pressure of the instrument. In all cases, the operator must take great care not to break the tooth, for if this happens the remaining part will give the patient still greater suffering. It is necessary, therefore, to avoid acting like the ignorant and foolish barbers, who in their temerity do not observe any of the above-mentioned rules, and therefore very often cause the patients great injuries, the least among which is the breaking of the tooth, the root being left in the socket, or else the taking away, together with the tooth, of a piece of the maxillary bone, as the author often happened to see. After the extraction the patient must rinse his mouth with wine, or with vinegar and salt. If, as often happens, hemorrhage is produced, a little powdered blue vitriol must be applied inside the wound; and if this is not sufficient, the part must be cauterized with a red-hot iron.
