Oral surgery : a text book of diseases of the mouth intended chiefly for the use of students of dentistry / by Edmund W. Roughton.

  • Roughton, Edmund W.
Date:
[between 1890 and 1899?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Oral surgery : a text book of diseases of the mouth intended chiefly for the use of students of dentistry / by Edmund W. Roughton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/246 (page 3)
    body of the jaw is fractured on both sides, the displace- ment is more marked, the loose central fragment being drawn downwards and backwards by the muscles passing to the hyoid bone. When the fracture is in the ramus there is very little displacement and it does not of course affect the regularity of the teeth. In fracture of the neck of the con- dyle, the latter is drawn forwards by the external pterygoid muscle and can be felt by the finger introduced into the mouth; the chin is slightly tilted towards the injured side, (the reverse occurs in unilateral dislocation). Preternatural mobility is more apparent the nearer the fracture is to the middle line ; it can be both seen and felt ; it is most marked when the fracture is double. Crepitus can be detected when the fragments are moved on each other, or by placing the hand over the injured part while the patient opens and closes the mouth. It is of most value as a symptom when the fracture is situated in the ramus or the neck of the condyle, because in these cases the other symptoms are more obscure. Loss of function is evidenced by inability to masticate, and by impaired speech. Complications. Fracture of the mandible is usually a comparatively trifling injury and is soon repaired, but it may be complicated by the following conditions. (a) Haemorrhage. This is usually slight and derived from the injured gum, but severe bleeding (both primary and secondary) has been known to occur from injury to the inferior dental artery. (b) Wounds of the face are rare except in gunshot injuries.