This is a tooth extraction key fashionable from circa 1760. First introduced in 1730 it was used up until the middle of the 19th century. The hook at the end of the key was placed over the tooth and holding the cross handle, the key was turned clockwise or counterclockwise dependent which tooth was pulled. It worked reasonably well in trained hands. When the roots were straight it could remove a tooth with a relatively short motion. But because the tooth was not luxated (rocked from side-to-side) as it is customary, the tooth often broke or worse, came with a piece of the alveolar (jaw) bone. In 1841 the English surgeon, John Tomes introduced customsized forceps for every tooth making the use of a toothkey obsolete. That, along with the introduction of the ether anesthesia (October 16, 1846) and local anesthesia (cocaine) at the end of the 19th century, and the concept of sterility, extractions no longer had to be a painful, traumatic and a risky undertaking. Description by Dr. Andrew I Spielman
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