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306 HISTOEY OF DENTAL SUKGEEY
thought of. While it fonued the liase of the greater of his most valuable ap-
(.pliances, he also made free use of the jack-screw, the wire arch, elastic rubber
rings, silk ligatures, etc., combiriing tlieni in a variety of ingenious ways to pro-
duce results that had hitherto not been attained by far more intricate
ajiparatus.
His methods for treating both upper and lower protrusions were, perhaps,
the most noteworthy of the many that proceeded from his fertile brain, and
lie must be accorded the credit of first proposing and then executing the bodily
movement of the lower teeth from a posterior position forward into normal
occlusion with the upper. This movement he aptly termed "jumping the bite."
In the summer of 1S71 the writer, while calling upon W. E. Magill, saw
him cement a platinum l)and to a lower cuspid tooth to aid in the operation of
rotating it. Tlie hand had a narrow bar of gold soldered to its outer face which
was designed to lie bent down and tied to some distant tooth. An appliance of
Ihis character had been used long before, but no mention had ever been made of
cementing it to the tooth to secure greater staliility. The idea of securing
attachment in this way seemed a simple one to tlie originator, but to the on-
looker it proved a revelatiim. Its great possibilities were apparent at once, for
it solved the problem of li.xation which had jnizzled the profession for many
years. Impressed with its great value, the writer at once adopted it in his
practice and published it for the benefit of others. Its application was soon
extended and virtually led to the devising of simple metallic retaining appli-
ances whicli have grown in favor ever since. Cementation not only serves to
secure them rigidly in position but it protects the enclosed teeth from the dele-
terious action of acidulous saliva. The importance of Dr. Magill's simple idea
may best lie realized wlien we consider that virtually all of tlie metallic devices
for regulation and retention in use today would be almost Nahielcss without
the aid of cement attachment.
In 1876 1 J. N. r.\iii!.\R began the publication of a series of articles on reg-
ulation to which he later gave the title: "liegulatiou of the Teeth Made Easy
By the Positive System." In these papers he sought to show:
(1) That pain in the movement of teetii was due to uninterrupted move-
ment such as is produced by the use of elastic rubber, metal springs, etc.
(2) That changes occurring in tlie tissues around the teeth during move-
ment are physiological in character if confined within certain limits and patho-
logical if such limits be exceeded.
^Dental Cosmos, Vol. XVIII.