A NEW COMBINATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR EXTRACTING TEETH
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "A NEW COMBINATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR
EXTRACTING TEETH."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th June 1858, and dated the 12th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th March 1858.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW COMBINATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR
EXTRACTING TEETH," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to mitigate the severity of the operation of
extracting teeth, by rendering the nerves of the teeth to be removed tem-
porarily insensible to pain at the moment the forceps is being applied. For
this purpose the Inventor combines a common dental forceps with a magneto-
electric machine in such manner that a wire from one pole of the machine
shall form a metallic connection with that part of the forceps that grasps the
tooth, while the other pole of the machine is brought into connection with the
patient's hand by a second wire. The handles of the forceps which are held.
by the operator are better to be insulated by a covering of gutta percha or:
similar non-conducting substance. As the jaws of the forceps close upon the
tooth where it is surrounded by the gum, the induced current from the

page_text: magneto-electric machine passes through the wire connecting the machine
with the forceps, and, applying itself around the whole tooth in the vicinity
of the nerves so affects the nerves as to render them temporarily insensible
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at-all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW
COMBINATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR EXTRACTING TEETH," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner, the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-.
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, is to mitigate the severity of the operation of extracting
teeth, by rendering the nerves of the teeth required to be removed insensible
at the moment the forceps is being applied. The improvement. consists in

page_text: combining with a common dental forceps a magneto-electric machine in such
manner that a wire from one pole of the machine shall form a metallic con-
nection with the part of the forceps that grasps the tooth, while the other pole
of the machine is brought into connection with the patient's hand by a second
wire. The handles of the forceps, which are held by the operator, are better
to be insulated by being covered with gutta percha or similar non-conducting
substance.
In the accompanying Drawing, A represents in perspective view an ordinary
magneto-electric machine, with a battery B attached; D represents the
ordinary dental forceps. A wire C passes from the negative pole of the
electro-magnetic machine to the point a of the forceps, where a close metallic
connection is made. On the inner side of the forceps, at the point 'd, a small
metallic cup is placed, and a small copper stem projects from the opposite
side e of the forceps: As the parts ƒ and g of the forceps close upon the tooth
where it is surrounded by the-gum, the induced current from the magneto-
electric machine passes through the wire C, and across from d to e, and thus
applies itself around the whole tooth in the vicinity of the nerves, and so
affects the nerves as to render them temporarily insensible. The patient
operated upon must hold in one of his hands the extremity of the other wire H
(which is attached to the positive pole of the machine), so as to complete the
circuit through his body. I represents the hands of the operator grasping
the forceps, and K the band of the patient grasping the wire passing to the
positive pole of the machine. The magneto-electric machine has a sliding
rod, by which the induced current may be varied in intensity, as is well
understood. The intensity of the current to be passed through the patient's
tooth should be graduated by observing in advance how much he can con-
veniently bear when he grasps the extremity of the wires H and C in each
hand. A little practice will enable the dentist to determine this readily.
The magneto-electric machine A is of the ordinary form employed for medical
purposes, and consists of a battery of one cell, a primary coil, an inducing
coil, a small electro-magnet for breaking and closing the circuit through the
wires C and H and the patient's body. Any other form of magneto-electric
machine may be employed.
I have described above particularly the machine frequently called an. electro-
magnetic machine, and which is used for medical purposes. There are several
other forms of machine sometimes classified as electro-magnetic or magneto-
clectric which are known to be equivalent in their action on the nervous
system to the one above described, such, for example, as the double helices or
coils composed of two coils of wire, one surrounding the other, one being a

page_text: quantity helix or coil, and connected with the battery, and the other an
intensity helix or coil, and to be connected with the body of the patient.
Instead of using a little electro-magnet break circuit in the first helix, as
shown in the Drawing, a clockwork break circuit or electrotome may be used,
or a rasp may be used in connection with the aid of an assistant for breaking
and closing the circuit. So also there are several forms of magneto-electric
machines in which permanent magnets are used to induce by mechanical
action a magneto-electric current in a coil surrounding a revolving soft iron
armature. In all these cases the same peculiar effect on the nerve of the
patient's tooth would result if either of these machines were combined with
the forceps, inasmuch as they are all well known to be equivalents in applying
electricity to the body for medical purposes. A direct current from the
.battery might also be combined with the forceps, and with the aid of an
interposed break circuit the same effect would take place to a great degree,
although the use of such a battery of the proper intensity would probably be
found much more inconvenient than the magneto-electric (or, as they are
sometimes called, the electro-magnetic) machines above named. So also,
instead of a metallic conductor from the magneto-electric or other battery,
the body of the operator might be employed, he taking hold of the negative
pole with his left hand, and grasping the forceps with his right hand.
Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention of "A New Com-
bination of Instruments for Extracting Teeth," as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim, the combination of the magneto-electric or electro-
magnetic machine, or its equivalent, with the dental forceps for removing
teeth without pain, arranged and operating substantially in the manner above
described.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)