Medicine: Reclaimed Teeth

In rough, tough Brooklyn, where knocked-out teeth are not exactly news, a dentist last week reported a surprising remedy.

An 11-year-old boy had marched into Dentist William Douglas' office holding in his hand two upper front teeth. Quickly noting that the teeth looked sound and whole, the dentist promptly dug out the nerves, filled the root canals (to prevent infection) and stuck the teeth back in the boy's mouth. To keep them in place, he wired them rigidly to other teeth. After two months, the dentist removed the wires. What he found, as reported in Dental Survey: "Both teeth now appear to...

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