=The removal of a tooth with a straight elevator= is accomplished in the following manner. The blade, with the flattened surface towards the tooth to be removed, is inserted between the root and the alveolus, the instrument being kept as far as possible parallel with the anterior surface of the crown. The blade is then forced downwards so as to reach the root at as low a point as possible; the handle of the elevator is then rotated away from the direction in which the tooth is to be removed. This has the effect of both raising the tooth in its socket and displacing it in the required direction. One such movement of the instrument rarely suffices for the removal of a tooth, a second, and sometimes a third grip, each time nearer to the apex of the root, having to be obtained. The method of using a curved elevator will be described in dealing with the removal of the roots of lower molar teeth. =The wound resulting from the removal of a tooth= is a lacerated one, and heals by “granulation.” The socket immediately after the operation becomes filled with coagulated blood, which is eventually replaced by granulation tissue, followed at a later period by the formation of loose cancellous bone. A varying amount of absorption of the alveolar border always follows the removal of a tooth, the continuity in the surface of the gum being restored by ordinary cicatricial fibrous tissue. The wound is best treated by keeping the parts carefully cleansed as far as possible from all foreign matter, and for this purpose an antiseptic mouth-wash[3] should be used several times a day. From the wound resulting from the extraction of an upper tooth the discharge drains away in a natural manner owing to the orifice being the most dependent part. From the wound caused by the removal of a lower tooth such is not the case, and should suppuration take place the socket must be frequently syringed with some antiseptic solution, and if necessary, packed. =The Extraction of the Temporary Teeth.=--Although the actual details of the extraction of the temporary teeth do not differ from those of the permanent teeth, there are, nevertheless, one or two points to which attention may with advantage be directed. First and foremost, a child should not be deceived, and if it is necessary to extract a tooth, the child should be told and not taken unawares. When, too, a child resists having a tooth removed, the operation must not be forcibly carried out, for by a little patience and moral suasion on the part of the operator, the better side of a child’s nature can generally be gained. It should also be remembered that anæsthetics are quite as needful for the extraction of the temporary as the permanent teeth, the pain to be borne by a child being quite as great as that to be endured by an adult. CHAPTER II. The Extraction of Individual Teeth.