Hammond Splint and Gamomania

HAMMOND SPLINT (Hammond), a type of metal wire splint named after its author. Hammond splints are used for simple and complex fractures of the jaws; they are bent to the shape of the jaws from aluminum or nickel silver wire 2 mm thick in such a way that the splint tightly touches the necks of the teeth from both the outer and inner sides, curving around the back teeth (see figure). In simple fractures, the splint is bent by hand and by eye, carefully fitting it to the shape of the dental arch, and in more complex cases, according to a previously taken plaster or stent impression. The splints are secured with the help of a thin bronze or bronze-aluminum ligature, tied to the splint and the necks of firmly standing teeth. GAMOMANIA (from the Greek gamos—marriage and mania—madness), a term used by some old psychiatrists to denote those types of increased eroticism which, combining excessive sexual arousal and a desire for intense activity, are especially characteristic of manic states.