Riggs' disease

Riggs, John Mankey (1810–1885), American dentist. Riggs is remembered for his description and treatment of the advanced form of periodontal disease known as pyorrhea or pyorrhea alveolaris. His method of treatment consisted of removing from the teeth, with scrapers that he had designed, the salivary and serumal deposits and necrosed bone. A tincture prepared from powdered myrrh was then applied as a protective, and the teeth were polished. He first demonstrated his method in 1865. He published a description of pyorrhea alveolaris (or Riggs' disease, as it is sometimes called) and his treatment for it in 1876. His other notable accomplishment was extracting a tooth in 1844 using nitrous oxide gas to produce anesthesia.