[Reprinted from The Mkdicai. News, October 20, 1894.! 
THREE UNUSUAL CASES OF ABSCESS. 
By M. A. VEEDER, M.D., 
OF LYONS, N. Y. 
I have had three cases of abscess recently that are 
somewhat interesting. The first, which pointed just 
above the sternum and was buried deeply in the mus- 
cles of the neck, was very refractory to treatment, until 
it was found that its cause was inflammation in the 
pulp-cavity of a tooth near the angle of the jaw, the pus 
from which had found an outlet on the inside of the jaw- 
bone, and had worked its way down between the muscles 
of the neck until it came to the surface, as I have de- 
scribed. The patient had not suffered from toothache, 
and did not suspect that this was the source of the trouble, 
although when the tooth was pulled fluid could be made 
to pass through the sinus, and healing was very prompt 
thereafter. 
In the next case the patient gave an account of having 
frozen his chin about three years previously, since which 
time it had been reddened, and at times would break open 
and discharge pus. He had never had any trouble 
with his teeth, which were even and regular, and appar- 
ently free from any trace whatever of caries. Never- 
theless the probe entered a cavity in the bone at the tip 
of the chin in the direction of one of the lower incisors, 
which on inspection was found to present the peculiar 
opaque appearance which exists when the nerve is 
dead. He was taken to a dentist, and a hole was drilled 
into the side of the tooth, the center of which was found 
to be the seat of a cavity having its outlet below, and 2 
through which a disinfecting fluid could be readily passed 
into the sinus opening at the tip of the chin. This cavity 
was thoroughly cleansed by the repeated application of 
hydrogen dioxid and of pure carbolic acid and drilling, 
whereupon the pus-discharge ceased, and the tooth 
which had been the cause of the trouble was saved. 
Another case was of precisely similar character, ex- 
cept that the opening was on the side of the chin opposite 
the anterior bicuspid tooth. Although the patient had 
not had the slightest pain in his teeth, when it was sug- 
gested that this might be the trouble he went to a den- 
tist and had the posterior bicuspid tooth pulled because 
it contained a filling and the other did not. This did not 
remedy the trouble, and some months afterward he sac- 
rificed the other tooth, which resulted in immediate 
cure. The better plan would have been to have looked 
for symptoms of the death of the nerve of the tooth, and 
to have had an opening drilled into the pulp-cavity as 
previously described, which would have resulted, with 
proper filling, in remedying the trouble and likewise 
saving the tooth. It has seemed to me that this class 
of cases might very readily be overlooked, particularly 
in the earlier stages, because of the insignificance of the 
pain referable to the teeth.