The _prognosis_ is always grave in the extreme, the main risks being
general toxaemia and septic pneumonia. When recovery takes place there is
serious deformity, and considerable portions of the jaws may be lost by
necrosis.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Cancrum oris.
(From a photograph lent by Sir George T. Beatson.)]
_Treatment._--The only satisfactory treatment is thorough removal under
an anaesthetic of all the sloughy tissue, with the surrounding zone in
which the organisms are active. This is most efficiently accomplished by
the knife or scissors, cutting until the tissue bleeds freely, after
which the raw surface is painted with undiluted carbolic acid and
dressed with iodoform gauze. It may be necessary to remove large pieces
of bone when the necrotic process has implicated the jaws. The mouth
must be constantly sprayed with peroxide of hydrogen, and washed out
with a disinfectant and deodorant lotion, such as Condy's fluid. The
patient's general condition calls for free stimulation.
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