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advantages, which is of not changing, is immediately render-
ed of little avail ; because if they do not change themselves,
the gums upon which they repose change, and consequently
these teeth must be renewed in a few years, in order to be
adapted to the situation and condition of the gums.
The second disadvantage of these teeth is, that they are
far greater conductors of caloric than natural or animal
teeth. They immediately become cold when exposed to
cold air, as when a person is conversing with another when
the air is cold, or upon walking in the cold wind, or upon
taking them out to clean them, if done in a cold room or
with cold water, they become very cold, and communicate a
very cold sensation to the patient upon replacing them. To
such a degree do they have this effect more than animal sub-
stances, that if there are many of them, a chill will be felt
by the patient upon their being exposed to cold, and from
this cause they are liable to produce pain in the living teeth
which they touch. We very often experience pain in our
teeth, upon taking a glass of very cold water in our mouths,
and in this way porcelain teeth often affect the living teeth
when they become cold, as we have before mentioned.
This objection may seem somewhat trivial but it is not so. It
should be a prime object with every dentist to place such ar-
tificial teeth in the mouth, and so insert them that they shall
be perfectly comfortable and agreeable to the patient ; and if
so, after a very short time, he will be hardly conscious of
having any thing like artificial teeth in his mouth ; and if con-
vinced that they cannot be detected by the common observer,
he will be perfectly satisfied with them, will open his mouth
without being abashed at the thought of his artificial teeth's
being detected ; and indeed he will rarely think of them :
but if every time he opens his mouth, his teeth become
cold and thereby disagreeable to him, he will be constantly