camp sanitation. Dental officers are given the same instruction in this subject as medical officers. A knowledge of the methods of supervision of troops on the march and at temporary halts is given the dental officer as being of value when there is no opportunity for him to function in his strictly professional capacity. He is informed, however, that his is a purely advisory position, and that in the final analysis the responsibility rests with the commanding officer.

It must be borne constantly in mind that while the primary function of the dental officer is to prevent, relieve, and correct dental disease, he has a broader duty in the military service and it is with this duty that the majority of professional men on admission to the service are totally unacquainted.

In this connection it is pointed out that during the late war many dental officers were placed on duty at aid stations during action when their knowledge of the requirements of the situation undoubtedly was the means of saving many lives. This duty being performed not as dentists but as dental officers and officers of the Medical Department, and that adaptability and aptitude for the service should be outstanding characteristics of all who are members of the Dental Corps.

The dental practitioner, perhaps more than any other professional man, is inclined to get into a rut, and from the very nature of his operating his viewpoint may become narrow. In the service he must, if he would be successful, be ready when called upon to advise and aid with all the knowledge at his command both the medical officer and the commanding officer. He should be able to formulate practical sanitary measures whenever required by the commanding officer, and, if necessary, supervise the carrying out of such orders as may affect the health of the command. With this knowledge he must have the capacity for hearty cooperation t all times.

Dental officers at the Carlisle school are given instruction in first aid, transportation of the wounded from the field, a knowledge of the routine activities in evacuation of advanced bases, the classification of casualties, and the routine treatment that has been determined to be advisable in each case according to its classification. The standard Army litter drill and the application of the Thomas plint is also a part of the course.

As a means of augmenting the technical knowledge of the dental officers of both arms of the service to render them more capable of fulfilling their destiny as efficient units of the vast fighting machine, the course given at Carlisle would seem well suited to the needs of the Dental Corps of the Navy.

CASE REPORT.

By L. C. Frost, Lieutenant, Dental Corps, United States Navy.

Ackerman, James A., apprentice seaman; age 20; white; admitted, April 1, 1922, to United States Naval Hospital, Canacao, P. I., from U. S. S. Beaver with diagnosis conjunctivitis acute left eye, for which he had been treated 10 days prior to being admitted to hospital. After admission to hospital, treatment for conjunctivitis was continued until April 6, when diagnosis was changed to iritis. Left eye showed typical symptoms of low-grade iritis; circumcorneal injection, no secretion, photophobia, muddy color of iris, sluggish pupil, and partial blindness. Pain in temple, no hypopyon, iris dilated evenly under atropine, no synnechiæ.

Tonsils were hypertrophied and crypts filled with débris. They were removed under local anesthesia. This resulted in no improvement to the eye. Examination of nose and accessory sinuses was negative.

Patient was being treated for gonococcus infection of the urethra at this same time, though this condition was almost cured at the time of his admission to the hospital, so it was discounted as the causative agent, as the iritis did not improve with the improvement of the gonorrhea.

Examination of the mouth showed several carious teeth in the upper jaw, one small cavity in the upper right first molar, a large cavity involving almost the entire occlusal surface of the upper left first molar, and two small cavities in the upper left second molar. These were filled. An X ray of the teeth showed a slightly impacted and unerupted upper left third molar, and it also showed a rarefied area along the sides of the roots of the upper left first molar, though it did not extend to the apex, and the tooth was vital. It was extracted, though its removal did not improve the condition of the eye. The X ray of the anterior teeth showed a fully developed impacted upper left canine (see picture). This was extracted under local anesthesia after removing part of the labial plate of the alveolar process. Three sutures were used to close the incision in the gum.

The third morning after the removal of the impacted canine patient stated that he felt very much improved as to pain in eye and temple. Circumcorneal injection was very much lessened, and iris has almost resumed its normal luster. Opthalmoscope examination showed slightly turbid media. The patient could distinguish hand at 5 feet.

Nothing was done to the slightly impacted third left upper molar, as it was thought that it would erupt without difficulty on account of the second molar drifting into the space formerly occupied by the first.

The treatment for the iritis was administered concurrently, but it is thought that the extremely prompt improvement of the iritis was plainly due to the extraction of the impacted canine.

Patient discharged to duty May 5, 1922.