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Preventive Treatment of Caries. 101
cult to make the operation of plugging effectural. Indeed, in
the manner they are plugged by many dentists, the operation
is of little utility. Hence another powerful reason in favor of
our treatment.
We would not by any means, recommend this practice to be
universally pursued, for it would be unnecessary and highly
improper; but in all those cases, where there is a certainty of
the teeth being crowded from conformation of the parts, we
believe it cannot be too strongly recommended.
The utility of what we have been recommending, is often
manifested by the treatment employed to remedy permanent
irregularity of the teeth; namely, the extraction of four of the
bicusfides.
There is one exception to this practice, even where the teeth
will be crowded. It is this.—The first permanent molares,
are often very defective in their structure, and decay at an
early age. In this case, these teeth should be removed instead
of the bicuspides ; but when there is a certainty of their effec-
tual preservation by operation, they should never be extracted,
for they are larger and more valuable teeth, less liable to decay
than the former, vastly more painful to extract, and the
changes before mentioned do not take place so admirably.
Sometimes the first permanent molarts decay so early
and so rapidly, that it is not possible to preserve them
even by ten or twelve years of age their crowns are half de-
cayed away. In all such cases, they should be extracted,
whether the anterior teeth be crowded or not, in order that the
changes before mentioned may take place. This treatment
cannot be too strongly recommended, for tooth ache will com-
pel their extraction sooner or later, when the parts being fully
formed, no favorable changes will take place, and there will
be large vacuities in the jaws. If these teeth be early extract-
ed, the back teeth will partly come forward into their places;
and another great advantage, the wisdom teeth, which are
often small, malformed and apt to decay, will generally come
Preventive Treatment of Caries. 101
cult to make the operation of plugging effectural. Indeed, in
the manner they are plugged by many dentists, the operation
is of little utility. Hence another powerful reason in favor of
our treatment.
We would not by any means, recommend this practice to be
universally pursued, for it would be unnecessary and highly
improper; but in all those cases, where there is a certainty of
the teeth being crowded from conformation of the parts, we
believe it cannot be too strongly recommended.
The utility of what we have been recommending, is often
manifested by the treatment employed to remedy permanent
irregularity of the teeth; namely, the extraction of four of the
bicusfides.
There is one exception to this practice, even where the teeth
will be crowded. It is this.—The first permanent molares,
are often very defective in their structure, and decay at an
early age. In this case, these teeth should be removed instead
of the bicuspides ; but when there is a certainty of their effec-
tual preservation by operation, they should never be extracted,
for they are larger and more valuable teeth, less liable to decay
than the former, vastly more painful to extract, and the
changes before mentioned do not take place so admirably.
Sometimes the first permanent molarts decay so early
and so rapidly, that it is not possible to preserve them
even by ten or twelve years of age their crowns are half de-
cayed away. In all such cases, they should be extracted,
whether the anterior teeth be crowded or not, in order that the
changes before mentioned may take place. This treatment
cannot be too strongly recommended, for tooth ache will com-
pel their extraction sooner or later, when the parts being fully
formed, no favorable changes will take place, and there will
be large vacuities in the jaws. If these teeth be early extract-
ed, the back teeth will partly come forward into their places;
and another great advantage, the wisdom teeth, which are
often small, malformed and apt to decay, will generally come
