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MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN'S TEETH. 241
be made successfully if the pulp was destroyed and removed.
The root canal would, in most cases, have a wide open end that
would interfere with this operation. One must be on guard con-
tinually as to that. One must have in mind a clear conception of
the conditions in the case in the placing of arsenic or in attempt-
ing to fill roots of temporary teeth. We may fill the roots of
temporary teeth before the absorptive process begins, just the
same as the roots in permanent teeth. The absorptive process
will go on at the proper time ; the root filling will stand up in the
tissues, produce, apparently, no irritation, and the absorption
will go on just tbe same as it will in a tooth with a living pulp.
These little molars, the roots of which have been filled in this
way, come away with the three legs of root filling — gutta-percha
or gold, standing up in the tissue, seeming to have produced no
irritation whatever.
ACCIDENTS DUEING ABSORPTION OF ROOTS OF THE DECIDUOUS TEETH.
A number of what we may call accidents, occur during this
absorption of the roots of temporary teeth. First, if there is an
alveolar abscess at the root of a temporary tooth and that abscess
is continuing in a chronic form, the rule is that absorption of the
root will fail. The death of the pulp of the tooth does not inter-
fere with the absorptive process. The question is simply as to
the condition of the tissues about the end of the root. The
absorption of these roots is a physiological process, and, in order
for it to progress properly, the tissues about the root, the peri-
dental membrane, must be in a physiological condition. If dis-
ease is going on there, such as we have in alveolar abscess, the
absorptive process will be defeated and different kinds of trouble
come up on account of it. Often a tooth is bodily pushed out of
the way, the other tooth taking its place, seemingly, by physical
force. In other cases, the permanent tooth is deflected from its
proper position. The apical end of the root of a central incisor
is occasionally pushed labially, while its neck is held nearly in
normal position. Less frequently the same thing may happen
to a lateral incisor or a cuspid, but the forms of the teeth replac-
ing these are such that they are more liable to slip to one side
and be deflected from their normal positions. The broad cutting
edge of the central incisor is that which most frequently pushes
the root of the deciduous tooth labially, causing the end of the
root to protrude through the gum and sometimes into the lip of
the child. These cases are not very frequent, and yet they are
sufficiently frequent that we should recognize them when they