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PEROXIDE OF SODIUM. 507

disinfectant and sterilizer, it has an additional advantage over
peroxide of hydrogen, by possessing a saponifying and solvent
action upon the oils, fats and animal tissue present in the denti-
nal structure of the teeth.
On account of its being freely soluble in water, and uniting
with it so energetically as to evolve considerable heat, such action
can be controlled by adding the powdered peroxide of sodium
slowly and in small quantities to the water, which should always
be done in making solutions, as decomposition and loss of oxygen
result when such care is not taken, and the solution is allowed to
become hot. A standard solution can be reduced to any desired
strength by adding definite proportions of water. Strong solutions
of peroxide of sodium are powerfully caustic and dissolve animal
tissue and saponify oils and fats.
Dental Uses.—Peroxide of sodium when carefully employed,
has proven highly successful as a bleaching agent for discolored
teeth, and a detergent disinfectant and sterilizer in the treatment
of putrescent conditions of the pulp chamber and canals, as it
penetrates the tubuli and dissolves the fibrils as well as the fatty
constituents. Peroxide of hydrogen contains about three or four
per cent, of available oxygen, while peroxide of sodium contains
twenty per cent., and in addition is a powerful saponifier : hence
its superiority as a bleaching agent. A solution varying in strength
from full saturation to one containing about five per cent, of the
saturated solution, has been employed by Dr. E. C. Kirk in the
treatment of pulpless teeth with putrescent canal-contents, and
especially in such cases where the whole structure of the dentine
was permeated and colored by an offensive and fermenting mass
of decomposing organic matter, with often a blind abscess as an
accompaniment to add to the foulness present, with satisfactory
results. He recommends flooding the pulp-chamber and canals
with a fifty per cent., or even a saturated solution, of peroxide
of sodium, with the rubber-dam in position to prevent contact of
the solution with the soft tissues of the mouth, the activity of the
preparation being at once shown bv the evolution of gas similar
to the action of peroxide of hydrogen, but with less violence and
rapidity. Peroxide of sodium is also very effective as a bleach-