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ARTIFICIAL DENTURES. 85

rateness of the relation of the several parts of the appliance
to the organs of the mouth; it being a matter of primary
importance that the various parts of the substitute should
be so adjusted to the remaining teeth—especially those to
which the clasps are applied—and the ridge and palate, that
it shall not, in any material degree, act as a retractor upon
the organs of support, or furnish interspaces for the lodg-
ment of food, while at the same time it should be so fitted as
to easily be removed and applied by the patient.
Manner of Securing Clasps to the Plate.—The clasps
^
having been fitted to the plaster teeth and the base swaged
to the form of the palatal arch and ridge, the clasps are
adjusted to the teeth in the mouth, the plate is placed in its
proper position, and an impression in plaster-of-Paris taken
of the latter with all in place; plaster is recommended, as
with it we can secure more accurately the relative adjust-
ment of the several parts than with any other material.
The impression, with the plate and clasp adhering, is then
removed from the mouth, its surface oiled, and a model
obtained in the ordinary manner. If, in separating the
model and impression, the plate adheres to the latter, it
should be detached and adjusted to the model and the clasps
arranged upon the plaster teeth. The plate and clasps may
now be attached to each other temporarily, with adhesive
wax, in the relation they occupy on the model, and then
removed carefully and the clasps and palatal face of the plate
embedded in a mixture of nearly equal parts of plaster, sand,
and asbestos. Before uniting the two pieces on the model
with wax, however, the ends of the clasps should be slightly
spread apart, in order that they may part readily from the
plaster teeth, without, in any degree, changing their exact
relation to the plate; in doing which, it should be observed
that all parts of the clasps which are to be united to the plate
should remain in close contact with the plaster teeth. After
investment, in which the plate and clasps are embedded, has