Pennsylvania Association of Dental Surgeons. [Volume: 2, Issue: 4, November, 1860, pp. 203-220]

216

THE DENTAL COSMOS.

these two plates were then soldered together. The object in forming a
double plate was to fill up that part where absorption had taken place, so
that the plate when worn would resemble the roof of the mouth, and not
be deeper on one side than on the other.
This obturator was very successful, the voice was much improved, and
she could eat and drink as well as persons ordinarily can who wear upper
sets of teeth; and, what was more remarkable, she could wear it without
springs or any assistance whatever to retain it in position.
Case 5.-He stated that he hardly knew whether this case should come
under discussion at the present time or not, as it could hardly be termed a
palatine fissure, but, from its exceeding interest, would now present it.
A gentleman was handling a gun loaded with buck-shot, when it
was discharged in his hands. The gun being pointed toward his head
at the time, the load struck him at the angle made by the ramus and the
inferior maxillary on the right side, passing upward and outward on the
opposite side of the face. It must have been a terrible wound, and
should, from the representation given, have caused almost instant death.
He however recovered after being confined to his bed for more than a
year, and during that time he had to be fed with a spoon. The only way
he could eat or drink was to lie on his back and let the food run down his
throat, and it was a long time before he found he could swallow.
The teeth in the upper jaw were all gone excepting the left second molar
and wisdom tooth; both of the antrums were fully exposed, the remaining
roof of the mouth being left almost flat. The lower jaw-bone was gone on
the right side from the second bicuspid back, and also the condyloid process; but about three-quarters of an inch of the coronoid remained, which
was drawn in so as to partially cover the roof of the mouth. The molar
teeth were lost on the left side, and also all on the right side from the
symphysis. In taking hold of the lower jaw it could be moved either
backward, forward, or laterally, to a considerable distance.
Figs. 8 and 9 show this case-the letters a and b the openings into the
antrum, and c the end of the lower jaw-bone. The distance between the
points a and c, when the mouth was closed, was just two inches.
This gentleman had been wearing a partial set of upper teeth which
had been attached to the molars, but the clasps of the artificial teeth had
loosened them, and it was therefore necessary to replace this piece of
work with a set that could be supported in some other way.
This was the most difficult case he had ever treated. One of the
greatest obstacles he encountered was the obtaining of a correct impression. To accomplish this, he first filled the antrums with loose cotton
to prevent the wax from passing into them; he then took as good a wax
impression as he could of both the upper and lower jaws; from these he
made impression cups to be used in taking the plaster impressions. There
was very little difficulty in obtaining an impression of the upper jaw with