Page 109 - My FlipBook

AMALGAM IN CONTOUR WORK.
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ment for condensing under the force of the mallet wielded by myself,
and another to prevent the gold from rocking or moving. This was
kept up till the whole cavity was filled flush, when of course it
appeared solid. Then the work progressed rapidly, till the whole
contour was completed, at the end of two hours' work. In finishing
this filling with a file, the dentist succeeded in straining it from its
anchorage so that it could be slightly rocked. He looked at me silently,
and I refrained from speaking. He tipped it out, and, strange to say,
proceeded to refill the cavity without change of plan. This time he
succeeded in making the contour, and also in polishing it so that it
looked handsome. Moreover, it lasted as as the
really long lady lived,
though I should record that she died two weeks later.
The essential features of a gold contour, therefore, are extreme
extreme cohesion, and extreme
solidity, immobility throughout and
at every stage of the operation.
Amalgam. It is frequently admitted that amalgam has been a
much-abused material. This charge against dentists is more true in
relation to contour fillings than in any other connection. It will not
suffice to say that, for contouring, amalgam is a valuable agent. It
is necessary to say that it is invaluable. Its usefulness is inestimable.
It may be made to save teeth which without it would be lost, or, at
least, even if saved, would be of but slight service for mastication.
place
In the realm of contour work, amalgam occupies a that is
unique. With it can be restored all those forlorn cases, those wrecks,
which half a century ago were inevitably consigned to the forceps.
Yet, with shame it must be admitted that only a very few men know
how to obtain the most desirable results with amalgam in these very
cases. The man who can restore a molar where caries has ad-
vanced beneath the gum, two or three cusps being entirely absent,
and build upon this unpromising foundation a tooth which becomes as
useful as the original, and which, moreover, remains permanently in
place without fretting the gum and without inviting decay along its
borders, has more right to count himself skilled than the best gold-
filler that we have known.
In small cavities the plastic is the more manageable material, but
as the size of a cavity increases, manipulation with gold becomes less
difficult, the added obstacle being only the tediousness of a lengthy
With it is otherwise, for the the the
sitting. amalgam larger cavity
more difficult it becomes to attain the highest success.
Amalgam, then, in contour work may well attract our special atten-
tion. I must point out the obstacles to its proper use, and tell how to
combat them. How often have we all expended a half-hour or more
restoring a lost corner of a molar, only to have it return on the follow-
ing day, with a portion of it missing? We say to the patient, "You