The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-06-14
A
An Electrical Appliance for Ex-
tracing Decayed Molars.
Ludicrous Scenes TN n Chicago Tooth-Shop
Teeth Drawn by Lightning and With
out Pain to the Victim-How the
Machine Works.

Ia" ~ hiShthluE N "tth=
out Pain to the Victim-How the
Machine Works.
The latest innovation upon the estab-
lished order of things, and the latest
dispensation designed to mitigate, If not
TO entirely dissipate, the excrutiating
agony incident to the extracting of
teeth, is the application of electricity to
dental operations.
Some people call it a fad" and
others, before it's value had been tested,
are said to have described 1t by other
titles, neither s fashionable nor so
e%uphonious. Since it's worth as a pain
killer has beer demonstrated IL Is
called the ''electric wonder" though
tho commercial name is 1.-The dental
electric vibrator" The mechanism OF
the invention is very simple. The VI
orator is contained in a neat case, which
also incloses "a battery by which It's OPP
Grafton is controlled and directed. The
discovery of a Peoria dentist, IT was per-
footed three years ago, and now pro-
tected by letters patent both in this
country and Europe, in the expressive
p~hraseology of scientific men sup
plies a long-felt want" Three wires
connected with the battery are en-
ployed. Two of these are attached to
metal electrodes or handles, each of
which are held by the patient, while the
third wire is attached to the foroeps.
There is q vibratory spring which opens
and closes tho circuit, by means OF
which a smooth, fine current of cleo
tricity is generated, and Is administered
in quantities sufficient to entirely over
come the pain ordinarily attendant upon
the act of extraction without, however,
entailing the disagreeable effects pro-
duced by the administering of an@s-
thetics. As is we'll known the nerves
that conduct the sensation of pain to
the brain are nearest the surface, and
the benumbing effect produced by the
electric current upon the sentient
nerves dissipates the pain, with which
| all are familiar. In short, the current
Is 30 much more rapid than the nerve
| action, that the vibrator becomes, for
the time being, the carriage of the pain,
80 to speak, and carries 1t off. The pa
tent takes his place in the operating
chair, grasps an electrode in each hand,
VIC lOTCepS LIT CLldTRtu, dhu diilOnO uC-
fore he is aware OF the situation the Of
Tending molar has been removed, with
out his experiencing the least possible
inconvenience. At all events such Is
the verdict of those who have tried 1t.
An Office has been established in this
city, says the Chicago News, and,
though open but a fortnight, has be-
| come a haven OF relief. Some rather
ludicrous scenes are daily witnessed
there. The other day a man with his
face swo lien out of shape from the pain
created by a pair of ''stumps," which
repealed all overtures for their removal,
submitted to the vibrator and was al
most Immediately translated from a
condition of mental and physical tor
ture to that of ecstatic felicity. Il
know it will hurt" he said, land that
I'll yell like the dickens. But I'm
| going to nave them out all the same"
When told hat the job was done he
vowed that he was ignorant of the fact,
and manifested his delight in antics
that partook more of the appearance of
q song and dance man than n who, as
he said, had for days endured all the
agonies of a victim of the inquisition.
As a rule, however, patients are
weighed down with anxiety and appre-
hension, and only realize the absence of
cause therefor when the tooth is drawn.
And in this particular it may be said
men thus afflicted outnumber the oppo-
site sex. While visiting the rooms re-
Gently a reporter witnessed an old lady
waiting her turn in a state of apparent
mental disquietude difficult to des-
cribe. Finally she was called to
the chair, the current was started,
and in a second the dentist
in charge removed the cause Of her dis
tress. She seemed scarcely conscious
of the success he had achieved, and
when shown the tooth declared she felt
but q slight twinge, and could hardly
believe the tooth grasped in the forceps
had C belonged to her. These are
instances, taken hap-hazard, of the
utility and effectiveness of the e dis
pensation, but others have been re.
marked, for from twenty to thirty a day
Is the average that are now having
recourse to the instrument as a panacea
for the chiefest i'll which teeth are heir
to.
When first introduced in Peoria there
are said to have been nearly II thou.
sand teeth, prongs, stumps and infirm
relics removed by this process in one
week, and that the daily average was
from seventy-fve to n hundred. An
opportunity to test its pain-killing
power was offered the reporter, but he
declined with thanks, Notwithstanding
that no charge would have been made
for the services rendered.
II the claims made in its behalf are
borne out by the facts, may it not be
that in the near future parties will be
made up to enjoy the experience Of
tooth-drawing without pain?