Page 17 - My FlipBook

INTRODUCTORY.

A STUDY of the advances which have of recent years taken place in
the tield of Operative Dentistry will reveal, besides the important addi-
tions to our knov.'ledge in the shape of novel methods and improved
technique, a vastly more important advance manifested in a better and
more general understanding of scientitic principles, and the application
of dental science to dental art, resulting in a more rational practice.
Especially is this true in regard to the etiology of dental and oral
pathological conditions, and the rationale of the modes of treatment
indicated for the morbid states constantly confronting the dental
practitioner.
The modifications in surgical methods and the greatly improved
results which are the outgrowth of modern scientific studies in bacterial
pathology, ^\hilc they have made a considerable impress upon dental
operative methods, have not, however, received that universal practical
acceptance among dental operators which their immense importance
demands. There is no field of special surgery in which the import-
ance of exact knowledge with respect to aseptic and antiseptic treat-
ment is more marked than in the practice of dentistry. The dental
operator is continually confronted with septic conditions, so that pre-
cise knowledge of their origin, causes, phenomena, and treatment are
essentials to the legitimate practice of the profession.
The performance of any operation, and especially those which arc
classified as capital, with unclean hands or infected instruments would
in the present stage of surgical art be regarded as criminal malpractice.
It should be so considered in dentistry. The loss of a patient's life as
the result of surgical septic infection is no longer permissible. Lack
of antiseptic ])recautions in certain dental operations may directly lead
to and as a matter of fact has been the cause of fatal results. It has
been shown conclusively ' that a large variety of pathogenic micro-
organisms are almost constant inhabitants of the oral cavity. In addi-
tion to the numerous forms whicli bring about an acid reaction, there
are many specified organisms which produce in inoculated animals
pyemia and septicemia in their several clinical classes. But while the
dental practitioner is not often called upon to face the issues of life
^ W. D. Miller, Dental Cosmos, November, 1891.
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