Page 124 - My FlipBook

58 PATHOLOGY OF THE HAKD TISSUES OF THE TEETH.
A sufficient use of clear water and the brush will, I believe, do no
harm. In what I learned of Dr. Miller's work in the production
of erosion it seemed to me that he was not very successful in
producing erosion with the brush and water, even when much
brushing was done with the electric motor. With the powders,
however, the teeth were worn away. He also found sharp grit
in many of the tooth powders in use. The brush used with water
regularly and sufficiently, but with moderation, will certainly
keep the teeth in good condition as to cleanliness. If many
dentists will do this and report the results carefully as to the
effect on the progress of the erosion, we will soon gain valuable
clinical evidence as to the possible effect of the brush with and
without abrasive powders. Those who have connected erosion
with the gouty diathesis have made some effort for the relief
of the general condition with the hope that the progress of the
erosion might be controlled, but thus far no very considerable
benfits have been reported.
I have made considerable effort to reduce the evil results
by inserting fillings, but can report but few successes, and am
now of the opinion that some of these apparent successes were
due to a coincident spontaneous stoppage of progress of the
erosion, rather than from the influence of the fillings. In the case
illustrated in Figure 48, 1 filled all of the eroded areas with gold,
removing all that remained of the labial and buccal surfaces.
This was effective for the teeth so treated, and fortunately the
erosion did not spread to other teeth. I saw the case occasionally
until the patient died, about fifteen years later. This was done
before the modern process of porcelain crowns had become suc-
cessful. The treatment was simply horrible from the esthetic
standpoint, but it gave the patient the full use of her teeth with
perfect comfort for the remainder of her life.
In my efforts filling has been of no other value except to
limit sensitiveness and depth of cutting, unless all of the surface
being eroded was removed, except possibly in some of the nar-
row cross cuttings and a few of the wedge-shaped areas. The
erosion will go on beside the fillings and continue spreading,
leaving the margins of the fillings standing as they were placed.
One who has had a wide observation of erosion and of its
progress from year to year may do much good by filling in
certain selected cases. These should be those deep cuts across
the teeth that show little or no disposition to lateral spreading.
In a number of cases of this character I have cut the groove
fully to the mesial and distal surfaces, and filled them with gold
without other preparation. These have generally been success-