Page 170 - My FlipBook

METHODS OF FILLING TEETH.
I5 6
on the labial surfaces of several teeth. Within a
small eroded spots
year they may grow to thrice the size, and in from five to ten years
the dentine may be denuded from gum to incisive edge. Unless the
constitutional disturbance which is behind this can be controlled, gold
serve only a temporary purpose, if they are beneficial at all.
fillings
shows a central incisor with a point of erosion on the labial
Fig. 176
surface. This was filled with gold, and five years later presented as
still in place at a, but surrounded
seen in Fig. 177, the filling entirely
by erosion, which continued.
The third form is a uniform groove, which may be deep or shallow
in proportion to its width, and may be quite short, or long enough to
extend from one approximal surface to the other. They are most
commonly seen near the gum. Fig. 178 shows a bicuspid in which is
seen the shallow groove near the gum, at a, whilst above it, at b, is
an extreme example of the deep groove, appearing as though cut with
a file. It is not difficult to imagine this converted later into the form
shown in Fig. 175, by the fusion of the two.

FIG. 176. FIG. 177. FIG. 178. FIG. 179.

Fig. 179 shows a singular case which came under my observation,
and is the extreme of the This is a and had
type groove. bicuspid,
been filled many years previously, the cusps having been restored by
gold contour, and the root-canals filled with gold. The subsequent
erosion destroyed the labial surface of the tooth, grooving it out until
the gold in the canal is fully exposed, showing relatively as indicated
at a in the illustration. Recession of the gum allowed the erosion to
include a part of the root.
The above classification of erosions cannot be considered
perhaps
as absolute. Erosions vary so much that it might be difficult in some
instances to say to which of these a case should
types special belong.
Nevertheless, what I have described are distinct types, notwithstand-
ing the fact that they may be fused the one into the other.
That they are attributable to different constitutional disturbances is
doubtful, as they may all occur in the same mouth at the same time.
Nevertheless, I feel safe in the following statements. The first con-
dition frequently ceases to spread ; that is, erosion stops. This is
probably due to an alteration in the health of the individual. If this