Morning journal and courier., 1883-04-10
Bad Teeth and Nervous Troubles. LFrou the Naz York Timesl

From the New Yo1k Timesl
 It appears not to be generally understood even among cultivated people, nevertheless although the fact has been dwslt upon witt emphasis by the best medical authorities that the presence of carious, crowded or asym
 metrical teeth in the human mouth is the progenitor of long train of nervous dis eases, comprising not only facial neuralgia and it's concomitant troubles, but diseases of the ear, inhammatory as well as function al, eventuating often in partial loss of hear
 ing, defects of vision, naso -pharyngeal ca.
 tarrh, and other tormenting maladies. One
 of our acutest and most successful specialists in the treatment of nervous diseases has be- come so fully convinced by long experience of the part played by defective teeth in the development, not of neuralgia only, but even of the more obscure neuroses, that he al ways insists, as condition precedent to the acceptance of the case, that thorough ex- animation of the cavity of the mouth shall be undertaken by competent dentist, for, he says, not only may single diseased tooth result in persistent nervous disturbance, but diseases of the brain, decay or perversion of the mental faculties, even epilepsy and tetat- nlc spasms often have their starting point in dental irritations and he has observed cases long train of nervous troubles, tho irritRted organ itself gave no sign, either by local main uonr14q di9nnnnfnrt of kha aoapcu if disturbance at some distant poinI. fh 0esz4 mon with most aural surgeons, Dr. Sexton has long since adopted the practice of exam ming the teeth of every patient brought to him for treatment of ear trouble, particular ly of partial deafness and of general irrita ton of the organ and, speaking the other day of the large number of pupils from the public schools who attend the aural clinics at the hospital with which he is connected, 'it is rare" he said, ttto find single patient in whose case dental irritation IS not to be con- sidered among the prominent causative fac tors '
 But is it possible that mental decay should have it's starting point Ill dental irritation :? This question is answered by remarkable case narrated by prominent dentist In this city-Dr Smith, of No. 50 East Twenty third street. The patient was a gentleman from Boston, about thirty-five years of age, the senior partner in prosperous dry goods house. Several years previous to the date when he came under the care of Dr. Smith, his general health began to fai. inexplicably. Medical advice, tonics and stimulants were equally without avail. The trouble was di- agnosticated as nervous exhaustion he was advised to pass year in Europe; did so. and returned in no way improved. con- stant victim to neuralgia and sleeplessness, his friends soon noticed with anxiety the de- velopment of symptoms of cerebral distur- bance. Fits of mental alteration followed, and finally symptoms of progressive demen- tia set in. The best physicians in Boston and New York were alike bafhed by the ob- scure and inexplicable features of the case. The patient failed gradually, but steadily, 1n mind as well as body, and in both equally. Accident, or rather the occasion to have de- fective tooth repaired, brought the patient in contact with the dentist, who discovered, in addition to the services required, that In two teeth that had been filled with amalgam some years before, decay had set in beneath the plugs The latter were accordingly removed, the cavities cleansed, and filling Of gold coin was substituted in each case Strange to say, from the date of the removal of these plugs, the symptoms of mental decay began to disappear, the physical condition of the patient rapidly improved, and in few weeks, without further medical interference, he was a well man and capable of attending to busi- ness It is a curious fact that neither of the two teeth which were responsible for the train of nervous and cerebral disasters wherewith this gentleman had suffered for years had ever given the least local trouble since it was filled Whether the amalgam acted as a poison upon the dellcate nerve bud beneath, or whether direct pressure upon the nerve was the cause of the irrita- tion, medical science IS incompetent to de- eide but it is an assured fact that the pro gressive mental decay had it's starting point in the two minute nervous flaments connect ing these organs with the brain, and there IS no QOuDb tnaG LHe cdso "ouA4 AA'N ted in dementia if the amalgam plugs had not been removed and the cavities properly filled.
 Another case-that of a gentleman whose name has since become familiar in literature will serve to point the moral of the pro ceeding. At the age of eighteen, his mouth being in other respects healthy, this gentle man had one of the large double teeth Of the lower jaw plugged with amalgam by a coun- try dentist. The tooth blackened, but no To- cal inconvenience followed. A few days at- ter the operation he was prostrated with what his physician described as nervous fe- yer, high temperature and persistent dellrl- um being among the prominent symptoms. Dating from this fever, and occurring with annual regularity nearly on the anniversary of the first attack, for the next ten years the patient was tormented, usually for about i've weeks. with the most fearful neuralgia Of the right eye and the right temple, which hls physician predicted would finally end Tn loss of vision and possibly in brain trouble. At length. in the torment Of paro1ysm, DIS at tendant being absent, he threw himself one dav mon the sofa and placed over his nos triIs A napkin saturated with sulphuric ether. AS tbe anaesthetic took effect and the pain subsided in the eye and temporal regions, he was surprised by 8 curious sensation as a thread of pain running along the jaw and ending in the tooth which had been filled years before, but had never given the least hint of local discontent. On relating the experience to his physician the wary practi- tioner was sensible to advise the removal Of the plug and refliing of the tooth This was done. The neuralgia vanished in an hour and, though several years have elapsed since then, it has never returned.