The Making of the Dentiste, C. 1650-1760 by King Roger;Cunningham Dr. Andrew;Grell Professor Ole Peter;

Author:King, Roger;Cunningham, Dr. Andrew;Grell, Professor Ole Peter;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

5.2 Fauchard’s instruments for the removal of caries. (Fauchard, Le Chirurgien Dentiste, 1746.)

If, however, the dentiste intends to operate on carious holes in the upper teeth, he must stand on the right or in front of the patient, with a knee on the ground. He should raise the upper lip with the middle finger of the left hand, depress the lower with the first finger of the same hand, and hold the instrument in his right, protecting the lips as he does so. For the external surfaces of the teeth on the right side, he must stand on the right and, holding the instrument in the right hand he should hold back the upper lip with the thumb of the left hand, and the lower lip with the first finger of the same hand. To reach the carious holes of the external surfaces of the left side, he must stand on the left, separate the upper lip with the middle finger of the left hand, part the lips (duly protected with linen) with the first finger of the same hand while holding the instrument in the right. In this position, the operation is the same for the internal surfaces of the teeth on the right side of the upper jaw.

This complicated and highly involved series of préceptes relates simply to the use of one particular instrument, used in the operation to remove one particular type of caries; and by looking at just one operation in this detail we have gained a clearer picture of the way in which Fauchard’s wide-ranging body of knowledge of the operations was applied to each of the particular diseases of the teeth. He presents a large number of similarly complex and detailed rules for the use of all the many other instruments, with each set of préceptes upon which their use is based derived from the science required of the parfait dentiste.

But how had this science been gained? How could a particular surgeon such as Fauchard, focusing his attention on one part of the body only, have built up a broad body of theoretical knowledge which would act as a foundation upon which he could construct a complex and wide-ranging series of operations? We have already seen how knowledge of both the disease and its causes was built on theory in our analysis of Fauchard’s writings on caries, and the technical basis on which the operations for that disease, and the design of the instruments used to treat it, should be founded. We now need to examine the practical rules which should be applied to the choice of operation, and to the way in which it should be performed – and we shall see that the large number of case histories recorded by Fauchard as observations and réflexions will allow us to understand how he and his confrères would apply these préceptes to their patients’ mouths.

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