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niSTOEY OF DENTAL SUJiGEEY 57

He says that teeth or artificial pieces wliicli are fastened by pivots or gold
wires remain in place for fifteen or twenty years without becoming dis-
placed, while pieces fastened by means of waxed linen or silk threads, which
are usually employed to fasten them, last only a short time.

Complete Dentures with Band Obturators and parts used in
Springs. construction.

The author describes "an artificial substitute for the upper and the under
jaw with teeth, in which there was not a single tooth or root upon which to
fasten it." These pieces were carved out of solid blocks of bone or ivory,
fastened upon frames of gold or silver and connected by means of strings, or
riveted by their ends. Upper and lower plates were carved entirely out of
solid blocks. The construction and teehnic are described in detail. When one
looks at the cumbersomeness of these substitutes, one is not surprised that the
author and inventor speaks of it as a "machine." He remarks:
"Up to this time artists who devoted themselves to the construction of
instruments and dentists had not been able to construct a machine that was