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THE ROMANS 101

maneuver as simple as that of removing an\ articles of apparel; they must,
therefore, have been extremely well constructed.
This alone should be sufficient, even were further proof wanting, to
give us an idea of the degree of development and of the point of perfection
reached by dental prosthesis at that time. But besides this, we now
also possess an ancient Roman piece furnishing a palpable proof of the
ability and ingenuit) of the dentists of that epoch. Some few years since,
I had occasion, in the pursuit of dental archeological research, to visit the
Museum of Pope Julius in Rome, where I was shown a prosthetic piece,
not yet exhibited to the general public, that had been discovered a few
months previous in excavating at Satricum, near Rome. I was invited
to give an opinion as to this appliance, and, after having examined it
accurately, became aware, not without some emotion, I am fain to con-
fess, that I held in my hands a prosthetic piece of exceptional historical
importance, that is, no less than a specimen of ancient crown work.

Fig. 31 Fig. 32

Roman appliance found at Satricum; crown The same, seen from below.
of lower incisor made of gold.

The appliance found at Satricum (Fig. 31) is made in the following
manner: Two small plates of gold, stamped out, represent respectively
the lingual and labial superficies of a middle lower incisor; these two
pieces soldered together form the crown of the tooth. At its base the
crown is soldered, back and front, to a narrow strip of gold which folds
back on itself at each end, so as to tightly encircle the two neighboring
teeth on the right and on the left, which thus serve as supports to the
appliance.
We are now, therefore, able not only to affirm that the Etruscans
knew how to execute a kind of bridge work, but that later the dentists of
ancient Rome even carried out croiuti work.
This, notwithstanding the examples of dental prosthesis discovered
up to now in Roman and Etruscan tombs, can in no way be considered
as representing all the varieties of dental prosthesis of ancient construc-
tion. It is to be hoped that, in spite of the destructive action of time,
m continuing the excavations and archeological researches, man\- other
'V
specimens of early dental prosthesis will yet come to light. In any case,