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88 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH

hold the first few pieces of gold, and should be
only of sufficient diameter to easily admit the in-
sertion and withdrawal of the fine plugger. There
is no advantage in undercutting a starting pit,
although squaring out or flattening the bottom is
occasionally useful. It is, on the contrary, advan-
tageous to enlarge its orifice somewhat, so as to
enable the rest of the gold to be more easily
attached. As soon as the foundation is made, the
filling is continued by adding more gold at the
cervico-labial angle, taking special care to thoroughly
condense it at the labial wall ; more gold is then
worked across to the lingual wall, and carefully
condensed against it, the direction of fo^ce being
mainly in the direction of the cervical wall. As
the filling proceeds in this way, it is useful to turn
the overlap over the labial wall with a thin, flat
burnisher, and to firmly press or rub it against the
margin.
The cervical margin should also have been treated
in this way. The surface of the filling is then
further condensed, and built up by adding gold to it
if necessary, applying the force at right angles, or
somewhat at right angles, to the surface. As the
filling is built downwards in the direction of the
cutting edge, it becomes impossible to apply the
force in the direction of the cervical wall with