Page 399 - My FlipBook

395

to strain the tooth and break the file ; should the file become
much confined, we should substitute another
file of a differ-
ent thickness, and complete the operation. If superficial ca-
ries is present, we ought to file every particle of it away,
until we arrive at the healthy part of the tooth. This, we
ought ever to bear' in mind, that if we do not remove the
carious and inflamed part entirely, we shall do but little in
arresting the disease. When we wish to file one tooth alone,
and not its fellow, then we may use a file smooth on one of
its surfaces, so as not to cut the tooth we wish to avoid.
The tooth we operate on should be firmly supported by the
forceps which I before mentioned for this purpose. In di-
viding the teeth in order to introduce a plug, we are often
obliged to divide the bicuspid and molar teeth, and in this
case, are apt to cut the cheek, which can be prevented
by putting a soft piece of leather between the file and the
cheek. We should notice the same when dividing the teeth
to allow the passage of the clasp of a spring, when we wish
to confine artificial teeth. When we cut off elongated teeth
we ought to support them, so as to prevent their being loos-
ened by the action and jar of the file. It is worthy of notice
that the diseased part of a tooth, when it has not reached
the lining membrane, is much more sensible, and creates
much more pain in filing it, in a great many instances, than
the healthy bone of the tooth itself, so that the commence-
ment of the operation is much more painful than the conclu-
sion, which proves that caries, in most, if not all cases, pro-
ceeds by a chronic inflammation and subsequent mortifica-
tion of the bony structure of the tooth, after the enamel has
been abraded by mechanical or chemical causes. We ought,
if possible, before we file any of the teeth, to put them in as
healthy a condition as possible ; and, if in our power, pre-
vent any irritable state of them, so as not to create much