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COLLODION. 3G7

Dental Uses.— Collodion is a very useful application in dental
practice, to prevent alveolar abscesses from discharging externally
on the face ; for such a purpose, it is applied in successive layers,
so as to act as a compress, and, bv moderating the vascular
action, cause absorption, or such a change in the direction of
the discharge as will induce it to open in the mouth. It is also
employed in combination vi'ith carbolic acid, as an application
for odontalgia ; when introduced on cotton, it acts as a temporary
tilling ; it has also been employed for arresting the mucous
secretion during the operation of filling cavities near to or under
the margin of the gum, but the rubber dam has superseded it in
this respect. Combined with iron and other agents, it forms a
styptic preparation.
In the dental laboratory, collodion, in the form of a colored
preparation, is employed to coat the surfaces of the plaster
models of plastic work, and when not applied too thick, it pro-
tects the plaster surface, and also prevents an unsightly rubber
surface on that part of the plate which is adapted to the mucous
surface of the mouth. When this preparation becomes too thick
for use, it may be diluted with a solution of 3 parts of ether to
I part of alcohol.
Collodion is precipitated by carbolic acid.
Cantharidal Collodion— Collodium cum Cantharide— is
composed of cantharides (Spanish flies), in powder 60 parts,
flexible collodion, 85 parts, commercial chloroform, q. s. The
addition of one per cent, of Venice turpentine to cantharidal
collodion will prevent the disagreeable, and, at times, painful
contraction of the preparation on drying.
Like cantharides, cantharidal collodion, when locally applied,
excites inflammation of the skin and mucous membrane, which
terminates in a copious secretion of scrum under the cuticle.
It produces a blister in the same time as an ordinary blistering
plaster, and is applied with greater facility, and is better adapted
to cover uneven surfaces, and retains its place more certainly.
It acts much more readily if the evaporation of the ether is
prevented by a piece of oiled silk placed over the surface im-
mediately after the application of the collodion.