Page 62 - My FlipBook
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METHODS OF FILLING TEETH.
48
is best adapted to the circumstances, it becomes necessary for him to-
be able to determine for all cases what material, or combination of
materials, is best fitted to the occasion. Therefore, in speaking of the
various materials, I shall endeavor to state where each is positively
indicated, and leave the reader to discriminate for himself in less
obvious positions.
The main reliance of dentists is upon gutta-percha, the plastics, and
but there are other materials which have been used, and of
gold,
them I will make cursory mention.
Materials of Minor Value. Lead has been used in children's teeth,
in well-defined cavities in adult mouths.
and occasionally cup-shaped
Thin sheets of the metal are cut up into narrow strips and rolled into-
convenient sizes. They are retained in place by a process of wedging.
This at once limits the cavities in which lead may be used to those
having well-defined, strong surrounding walls. If omitted from the
I believe it would never be missed.*
office,
Tin has been used similarly to lead, with no special advantage. It
has also been made into foil and used as soft or non-cohesive fillings
are made. Before the introduction of amalgam, it occupied the same
which that material too often does now, for the of teeth
place filling
where a highfee could not be charged. Except for this purpose, which
is an unprofessional one, it has little value. Latterly, in combination
with gold, it has been claimed to have special therapeutic effects not
possessed by either metal alone. It is doubtful if this claim can be
proven to be well founded. I will say more of it when considering gold.
Robinson 's felt is a shredded metallic composition, which has a place
in the office. It is claimed for it that gold will cohere with it, so that
a cavity may be half filled with it and completed with gold. This is
a delusion against which the inexperienced must be warned. It is true
that in favorable cavities two-thirds of the filling may be made of the
Robinson's felt, and gold may be used for completion, but there will be
no cohesion. The union is purely a mechanical one, and only of suffi-
cient to make The felt must not extend
tenacity manipulation easy.
so near to the surface that the remainder of the cavity would not of itself
retain the The felt must not be but left suffi-
gold. packed too tightly,
loose so that with a serrated instrument the be
ciently heavy gold may
packed and forced into the felt: This will be readily accomplished,
and the cavity may be completed with cohesive gold. The advantage
of this method is that cavities be
large may rapidly filled, and as well
as if all gold were used. The cases where this is exclusively indicated
are large molars from which the pulps have been removed, tremen-
dous cavities needing to be filled. In many such cases it is preferable
*I am not here considering the filling of root-canals.
48
is best adapted to the circumstances, it becomes necessary for him to-
be able to determine for all cases what material, or combination of
materials, is best fitted to the occasion. Therefore, in speaking of the
various materials, I shall endeavor to state where each is positively
indicated, and leave the reader to discriminate for himself in less
obvious positions.
The main reliance of dentists is upon gutta-percha, the plastics, and
but there are other materials which have been used, and of
gold,
them I will make cursory mention.
Materials of Minor Value. Lead has been used in children's teeth,
in well-defined cavities in adult mouths.
and occasionally cup-shaped
Thin sheets of the metal are cut up into narrow strips and rolled into-
convenient sizes. They are retained in place by a process of wedging.
This at once limits the cavities in which lead may be used to those
having well-defined, strong surrounding walls. If omitted from the
I believe it would never be missed.*
office,
Tin has been used similarly to lead, with no special advantage. It
has also been made into foil and used as soft or non-cohesive fillings
are made. Before the introduction of amalgam, it occupied the same
which that material too often does now, for the of teeth
place filling
where a highfee could not be charged. Except for this purpose, which
is an unprofessional one, it has little value. Latterly, in combination
with gold, it has been claimed to have special therapeutic effects not
possessed by either metal alone. It is doubtful if this claim can be
proven to be well founded. I will say more of it when considering gold.
Robinson 's felt is a shredded metallic composition, which has a place
in the office. It is claimed for it that gold will cohere with it, so that
a cavity may be half filled with it and completed with gold. This is
a delusion against which the inexperienced must be warned. It is true
that in favorable cavities two-thirds of the filling may be made of the
Robinson's felt, and gold may be used for completion, but there will be
no cohesion. The union is purely a mechanical one, and only of suffi-
cient to make The felt must not extend
tenacity manipulation easy.
so near to the surface that the remainder of the cavity would not of itself
retain the The felt must not be but left suffi-
gold. packed too tightly,
loose so that with a serrated instrument the be
ciently heavy gold may
packed and forced into the felt: This will be readily accomplished,
and the cavity may be completed with cohesive gold. The advantage
of this method is that cavities be
large may rapidly filled, and as well
as if all gold were used. The cases where this is exclusively indicated
are large molars from which the pulps have been removed, tremen-
dous cavities needing to be filled. In many such cases it is preferable
*I am not here considering the filling of root-canals.
