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EXPOSURE AND REMOVAL OF THE DENTAL PULP. 147

end. In this way the cotton is rolled on the broach in such a
way that it will not slip backward on the broach and can be car-
ried to the apical end of the canal ; and when the broach is
withdrawn the cotton will remain in the canal. This is now
saturated with the dressing, or drug indicated, and laid in the
canal. One end of the cotton wisp should project into the pulp
chamber in order that it may readily be removed at another sit-
ting, and the cavity sealed with a gutta-percha filling.
Rule : In no case should the saliva be allowed to
enter a root canal after the pulp has been removed. At
any future sitting the rubber dam must be applied and the
included region disinfected before the gutta-percha filling is
removed. Any neglect of this precaution is apt to result in
alveolar abscess.
In cases of dead pulps, pulps in a state of decomposition,
empty root canals, alveolar abscesses, etc., the technical proc-
esses of cleaning the canals are not essentially different from
those described, though they may require radically different
medicinal treatment. This latter is not within the province of
this book.

Opening the Pulp Chamber in Sound Teeth.
Frequently it is necessary to open the pulp chamber of teeth
that are sound, or have fillings previously inserted that it is not
desirable to remove. The pulp may be dead or in such a con-
dition of disease that it should be removed. In these cases it
becomes necessary to cut from the surface of the tooth or through
the filling. In case of the incisors or cuspids the best place
to enter the pulp chamber is through the central portion of the
lingual surface. For this purpose a bibeveled drill, one milli-
meter in diameter, should be first used. With this the enamel
should be penetrated and the drill forced a little distance into
the dentin. Then this opening should be considerably enlarged
by a larger drill or a round bur. Then the small drill should be
forced carefiilly into the pulp chamber. If the pulp is alive and
sensitive, it should now be destroyed. Afterward the complete
opening of the chamber may be jjroceeded with. If the pulp
is dead, the fiirther opening of the chamber may be done at
once.
In cutting into the pulp chamber the drill has entered from