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108 THE TECHNICAL PROCEDURES IN FILLING TEETH.

condensing it. Therefore we should not use heavy blows with
very small plugger points. For some special places about mar-
gins, or packing in delicate grooves, a smaller point used with
lighter force is useful. And occasionally a larger area than one
millimeter in the form of a foot may be useful in packing over
certain cavo-surface angles.
Forms of plugger points.—The form of the impacting
area or points of plugging instruments may be round, square,
parallelograms, or what is known as the foot forms. All of these
have their uses in special localities. For the general work of
building cohesive gold either the round, square or parallelogram
forms may be used. The foot forms are not suited to general
building of gold, but are useful for condensing over certain cavo-
surface angles and for after-condensation, especially where it is
necessary to reach into the interproximate space, or at other nar-
row points requiring a short crook of the plugger point. The
parallelograms, or narrow flat points, are especially useful in
condensing gold against the surrounding walls of cavities
when the direction of force must be nearly or quite parallel
with the cavity wall, for the reason that they tend strongly to
wedge the gold between the wall and the condensed gold and
perfect the adaptation to the wall. For this purpose the flat
side of the plugger point is placed parallel with the wall.
The point or impacting area of the plugger may be smooth
(smooth plugger), or serrated (serrated plugger). Gold fillings
may be made with either, but for general use the judgment of
the profession seems to be decidedly in favor of the serrated
point. The principal object of the serrations is to prevent the
point from slipping or sliding on the gold, and they should be
just sufficient to do this eifectively. Long, sharp serrations
should not be used, because they chop into the gold. ^Very
fine, short serrations are much the best. Great care should be
taken to keep plugger points in good order.
Forms of the shanks of pluggers.—As we now prepare
cavities with broad, free access, no great variety of crooks and
turns in the shanks are necessary. In the instruments for gen-
eral use a slight bend in the shank is desirable in order that the
shaft may be just a little out of the line of vision. A perfectly
straight plugger is a little awkward for that reason. This curve
should be from three to five centigrades. For special purposes