Page 389 - My FlipBook

ESSENTIAL OILS. 357

powerful disinfectants, and are soluble at a temperature below
body heat. They are good menstrua for iodine compounds, and
oily dressings, when not too tightly confined in a pulp-chamber,
are not vitiated like substances which are soluble in water. They
may be allowed to remain for longer periods in the roots of teeth,
when it is not possible to fill such roots at once. When an oily
•dressing (such as oil of pepperment or oil of cassia) is applied in
a root canal, after the removal of a pulp by extirpation or its de-
vitalization by arsenic, it acts as an anodyne and also as an anti-
septic, preventing the formation of mephitic gases. The oily
dressings may be pumped through roots and fistulous tracts with
impunity, and will not clog delicate canals. The solutions of the
essential oils are all made as follows (Dr. Black) : " An excess of
the oil is mixed with water by violent shaking continued for some
minutes. It is then placed in the incubating oven, where the
temperature is 99° F., for twelve hours. It is then again vio-
lently shaken and returned to the oven for another twelve hours,
twenty-four hours in all. It is then carefully filtered, and if not
perfectly clear and free from all appearance of oil, it is refiltered
until it is clear. The filtrate is then used as the solution of the
oil. The same plan is used in making saturated solutions of the
crystalline substances."
The prominent essential oils are those of cajeput, cassia, cinna-
mon, cloves, eugenol,eucalyptol, fennel, mustard, caraway, pepper-
mint, sassafras, turpentine, thyme, pennyroyal, valerian, winter-
green. In dental practice the oil of cassia diluted with a bland
oil like that of wintergreen is a valuable dressing for putrid root
canals and abscesses. Dr. Black recommends the following mix-
ture :
I^. Carbolic acid (melted crystals), i part ; oil of cassia, 2
parts; oil of wintergreen, parts. Mix the oils and add the
3
melted crystals of carbolic acid. This is known as the i, 2, 3
mixture.
Dr. Black also says : " After thorough cleaning with the watery
form of the antiseptic we need something that will be more en-
during in its effects, and according to conditions, should choose
between the oils and the powders. If it is an abscess with which