AMAZING DENTISTRY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 6

AMAZING DENTISTRY.

WAR CAUSES STRANGEST CASE RECORDED.

The most astonishing piece of dental work on record is illustrated by Lieutenant Valadier at an exhibition of fracture apparatus by officers of the RiA.M.C, which was opened yesterday at the Royal Society of Medicine by Surgeon-General Sir Alfred H. Keogh. During the battle of Neuve Chapelle a young officer, a, lieutenant in a Highland regiment, had his face half-turned upwards, when a piece of struck the left side of his face and blew away most of the lower jaw. Incredible though it may seem, 'Lieut* Valadier put a new floor to the man's mouth, actually induced two inches of bone to grow on the lower jaw, fixed complete artificial teeth, and healed the remains of the lips, with the result that now the man is as normal as ever, and the only result of his mishap is a slight scar by the mouth.

Photos, X-ray pictures, and moulds are all in the exhibition to .--demon? strate this astonishing piece of dental genius. Sir Almroth Wright addressed the meeting on his recent researches, and said: "I am convinced there is no value in the use of an antiseptic of itself." He advocated as the result of his research that treatment should mainly consist of bringing the white blood corpuscles to the surface of the wound by means of a salt solu? tion, and assisting the bodily power of the patient, with the object of enabling the healing part of the blood to cure its own trouble.