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160 ANTISEPSIS IN DENTISTRY.

the use of antiseptics will keep it measurably free from unpleasant
consequences.
Fio. HO.
Glasses require to be thoroughly boiled
both before and after use. Boiling should
never be neglected with ejector tubes, either
metal or glass, glass being generally used.
Hard boiling in water for twenty minutes
should be sufficient.
The lancet is an instrument demanding
especial care, as it may become a danger-
ous source of infection. Before it is used
the adjacent portions of the gum should be
washed with an antiseptic.
The forceps employed in extraction
should be so constructed as to render the
blades readily separable at the joint, and
they should be boiled in water and soda
solution for an hour. The recorded cases
of infection from these instruments render
this care imperative in all instances.
Fig. 140 shows a convenient form of
Downie steam sterilizer.
apparatus for sterilizing ordinary dental
instruments by boiling soda solution.

Oral Diseases and Their Transmission.
The possibility of carrying disease from one person to another seems so
self-evident that it ought not to require more than a word of caution,
and yet it is clear that the attention given to this source of danger is by
no means commensurate with the risks assumed constantly in practice.
The peculiarly transitory character of much of dental practice precludes
the possibility of any previous history of patients, and therefore every
one should be regarded as a possible source of infection.
Diseases the result of pathogenic bacteria independent of possible
external infection are now in the main well understood, but by no means
equally appreciated by medical practitioners, nor are they properly con-
sidered by dental operators. Miller ' states that " many facts favor the
supposition that a considerable number of pathogenic micro-organisms
may thrive in the juices of the mouth without showing in their vital
manifestations any distinction from the common parasites of the oral
cavity as long as the mucous membrane remains intact. If, however,
the soft tissues have been wounded, as in extraction, or if the resistance
of the mucous membrane has been impaired, these organisms may gain
^ The Micro-organisms of the Human Mouth, page 275.