Page 189 - My FlipBook

PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT OF THE MOUTH 185

tain limitations prevents the consideration of pyorrhea in its treat-
ment. However the foregoing procedure will go far towards the
prevention and cure of pyorrhea alveolaris. In fact thorough
prophylaxis is the prime essential in the treatment of that disease.
The Removal of Green Stain is principally accomplished by the
application of some abradent, as pumice stone, with a revolving
brush in the dental engine. This also polishes the crowns of the
teeth, removing the small particles of calculus still adhering to
them after scaling.
Hydrogen dioxide (H2O2) added to the powdered pumice in
place of water Avill assist in removing the stains and particularly
green stain, of which it is a partial solvent. Following the use of
pumice the gums should be thoroughly syringed with water to re-
move any trace of the pumice, Avhich is insoluble in the mouth and
should not be left around the free margins of the gums.
A Clean New Brush Wheel should be used and a fresh mix of
the powder made for each patient as a means of preventing the
transmission of disease as well as from a standpoint of cleanliness.
As well might our patients be asked to all use the same toothbrush,
a thing not thought of, even by members of the same family.
The Removal of Sordes is a matter which must be left to the ef-
forts of the patients. Its accumulation about favorable portions
of the teeth and mouth is but the matter of a night or a day and
upon its speedy and frequent removal depends the salvage of the
teeth from the ravages of caries.
The Toothbrush is the one great cleansing agent and nine-tenths
of the removal of sordes is accomplished purely by mechanical ab-
rasion through the movements of the bristles of the brush over the
surface of the teeth. The movements of the bristles should be not
only crosswise to the long axis of the teeth, but also from root to
crown and vice versa, that the travel of the bristles may parallel
the gingival, enter the embrasures and traverse the grooves and
fissures.
Hydrogen Dioxide Is the Only Agent Avhich can be used in the
mouth in sufficient strength to dissolve sordes and not injure
either the hard or soft oral tissues. This may be used either upon
the brush or as a mouth wash. The dissolution of sordes is accom-
plished by oxidation.
The Massage of the Gums is advised to remove all unsolidified
calculus, food particles and other foreign substances from beneath
the free margins of the gums as this appears to be the only satis-