Pierre Fauchard has been called the “Father of Dentistry”; his comprehensive and scientific account of all that concerned dentistry in the 18th century is one of the greatest books in the history of the subject. The second edition, published in 1746, contains a good description (vol. 1, pp. 275-77) of pyorrhea alveolaris; it was reprinted, Paris, 1961, and was translated into English by Lilian Lindsay and published by the British Dental Association in 1946 (reprinted Pound Ridge, N.Y., Milford House, 1969). Digital facsimile of the second edition from Google Books at this link.