In cases of fracture of the lower jaw[222] it is not only necessary to cure the fracture itself according to the rules which the author prescribes for the various cases, but it is also necessary to pay attention to the teeth and with a gold or silver wire, or a silk thread, to tie, in the manner already described, those teeth which in consequence of the wound have become loose, but the consolidation of which may be hoped for. [Illustration: FIG. 55 A dental file (Abulcasis).] MESUE THE YOUNGER, a disciple of Avicenna, is of opinion that when a tooth is the seat of violent pain, this may easily propagate itself to the other teeth; and therefore advises, if the pain does not soon cease, to extract the tooth affected, without delay. This operation, however, must not be performed, says the author, whilst the pain is at its height, but rather when it is somewhat lessened, otherwise, the extraction of the tooth may result in a syncope sometimes ending in death, or else be the cause of intense inflammation and of suppuration, which, also, may, in certain cases, place the patient’s life in danger. He recommends an infinite number of remedies against odontalgia; in these, however, there is nothing new to us. As to the removal of a tooth, this may be obtained in three different ways, that is, with the forceps, with eradicating remedies, or by cauterization. In order to cause a tooth to fall out by the use of acrid, eradicating substances, the author advises to proceed in the following manner: The tooth is first freed, by means of a scalpel, from the surrounding gum; the eradicating remedy is next applied to the root of the tooth, every needful precaution, however, being taken that it may not injure the neighboring teeth. Cauterization, when practised to produce the exfoliation of a diseased tooth, may be performed, according to Mesue, either with a small red-hot iron, passed through a little metal tube in order to protect the neighboring parts, or with the heated kernel of a nut, or with a grain of burning incense.[223] To cure a dental fistula, Mesue cauterized it to the very bottom with a cautery in the form of a probe, or extracted the tooth, which by reason of its diseased root was the cause of the fistula; and when the bone was likewise affected, he laid bare the carious part, which he then scraped.[224]