Page 672 - My FlipBook

330 THE TECHNICAL PROCEDURES IN FILLING TEETH.

PORCELAIN AND GOLD INLAYS.

AT the present time porcelain and gold inlays are in the devel-
. opmental stage and discussion is more suited to the general
journal literature than to books. The probabilities ai'e that any-
thing written now, will, within a very few years, become obsolete
by reason of improvements and changes of methods of procedure.
The importance of the subject may become much greater than
now by reason of important discoveries or improvement of
methods, or with further experience may become much less than
now appears probable. The usefulness of inlays may possibly
At present, how-
prove to be confined to a very narrow field.
ever, there are indications that they will continue to command
wide attention. The inlay is being developed by quite a liberal
nmnber of enthusiastic men who believe there is a great future
for inlays of the various types. More time, however, is neces-
sary to determine the actual usefulness of the inlay to our people,
particularly as to whether this will become general or be con-
fined to a few special lines, such as for the desirable esthetic
effects of porcelain in exposed pdsitions. For- these reasons
an exhaustive treatment of the subject will not be undertaken
in this book. General statements only will be made.
Inlay work must, as yet, be regarded as in its infancy. It
has not yet reached its full development as to the best plans of
prosecuting the work, nor has its power of controlling recurrence
of decay been fully determined. While this remains true, any-
thing that may be said regarding the selection of cases for inlay
work must be regarded as tentative and subject to such modifi-
cation as future developments may require. The indications
at the present time seem to be that the power of the inlay to
control caries will be much less than well planned and well
made gold fillings. For the most part, those who have made
inlays, whether of gold or porcelain, have indulged in very wide
cutting, which has had the effect of laying the cavity margins
in lines in which caries does not occur, and have compared the
results with gold fillings made without proper care in the lay-
ing of cavity margins in lines of immune areas. The inlay is
not capable of the same quality and kind of anchorage, and in