The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-11
WITH THE DENTIST.
THOUGHTS THAT CONE TO ONE
STRAPPED IN THE CHAIR.
How Nerves Are Killed and How They
Sometimes Refuse to Die-The Thousand
and One Tools the Operator Uses on His
victim-Dying With Its Boots On.

anu One the Operhtor On III,
victim-Dying With Its Boots On.
am having a nerve killed, and IL 4:
dying with its boots on.
Herbert Spencer, Ribot and other emf
nent collectors Of scientific ourios devote
much discourse 10 explaining the connec-
ton between ideas and the nerves.
was about 20 say / know Of no place
In the world where so much illustrative
data can be obtained in brief time as in
a dentists chair.
For example, was lying with my head
thrown back and my mouth wide open, so
as 10 let the sunlight into the cavities OF
the grinder, when / remembered reading
in the " Anabasis" az college how some Per
sian king had impressed his power and
mightiness on a captured rival after the
manner Of the Persians by covering his
face with honey so as 10 attract all the
singing insects in which the region
abounds, and then having him tied out in
the blazing sun. i struggled with the
''Anabasis" a good many years ago and
names and dates are hazy. Meanwhile
this pleasant story had never once occurred
to me until the dentist brought il back.
So your dentist is a great extractor of
old rooted ideas.
Every one who has had a tooth ground
out has experienced that feeling OF appre-
hension that the pestiferous little thing
which goes whirling about Ike a planet
in its orbit might at any moment break
through. While / was undergoing the
process a passage from the opening pages
Of Carlyle's French Revolution" kept
following in It's track The passage refers
10 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who
had just been crowned. Poor creatures,
dancing your frail life minuet over bot
tomless divided from you by a finn
what is the name of thaty" inquired
when he had removed the instrument
from my mouth.
Bur" he replied.
"And thisi" indicating the rubber
sheet arrangements which had been fas-
tened across my lower jaw.
Dam, " said he.
"Thanks" said l.
Then l came up, but without smiling,
for other rounds. He was just passing the
second quarter for the third time when
felt sharp twinge.
"Sensitivey" he inquired, with the tone
Of one who feels real interest l replied
that 1t was, and he said the nerve would
have TO be killed. This didn't sound pleas
deserved it, He took little piece of cot
ton, put what he told me was arsenious
acid on it, applied it to the point Of expo
sure and then filed up the cavity with
cotton coated with sandarac So the bur
and the acid were the first day.
The vitality Of nerves differs in different
individuals. l asked the dentist before
came away how long it took a nerve to die
He said from "a hours TO ten days; the
average was about As hours.
He had case once in which il had taken
six months. Every weapon known to dem
tai warfare was employed against this
nerve, but it fought with the desperation
of q member Of the Old Guard of Waterloo
Finally even the dental heart was touched
by such herOism, and he committed the
sentence to imprisonment for life. The
cavity was filled with cement, and the
nerve, after some further months Of this
enforced confinement, ccumbed-literal-
ly buried alive.
There Is another operation which he de-
scribed as mice" (why do dentists, doc
tors and surgeons always speak Of their
most painful performances as "nice?"),
which consists in sandbagging a nerve and
drawing il out OF its cavity before 10 recov.
ers consciousness. This is performed most
readily in front teeth-in fact, believe is
never employed in any other A cut is
made in either side of the tooth, just as
glazier cuts pane Of glass before break
ing IT, Then the nipper is applied. The
force which breaks the tooth stuns the
nerve, which, as stated, is taken out at
once.
The dentist had said that the nerve /
might give me a little trouble IL did. Not !
only 80, but the other nerves took it up. |
The nerves Of the teeth are very clannish, |
and an injury 20 one becomes the affair Of !
all. Most Of mine took turns about in an
noying me, the wounded member of the |
tribe in the meantime keeping up a steady |
ache, not loud but deep
The nerves are "A separate state within |
the body. They reserve 20 themselves all |
the rights not delegated to the general gov
eminent. They manage their own affairs |
and resent TO the death any importation Of |
federal forces 20 quell local disturbances.
When he said the nerve should DO killed, |
l consented readily enough, but ever since |
he began operations there have been al
most constant riot and disorder in the |
dental nerve system.
A nerve is as stubborn as the twelfth |
juror, holding out until the bitter end |
tenn.
asked the dentist how many different |
instruments were used in filling teeth. |
He said there were SO many no couldn't |
tell offhand.
To begin with, there are several differ
ent kinds Of burs. These include the |
fissure bur, the round bur, the wheel
bur and the bud bur OF each of these
there are Ii different sizes
Then there are other Instruments list
OF which sounds like section from a cat
alogue of the torture chamber in the Lon
don Tower museum.
OF battleax excavators there are "a yari-
cities. These are for opening into cavities,
cutting down crown surfaces and for work
in the interior Of cavities.
Spoon excavators have long curves by
which the cervical wall may be reached
while following the shape of the TOOTH
Chicago Tribune.
Knights of Old.
The knights of the days OF chivalry were