Page 117 - My FlipBook

FILLING TEETH loi
reach at this part of the operation, and this ilkis-
trates the vahie of condensing the gold as thoroughly
as possible against the labial wall during its intro-
duction. The first few holes made with the wedge
should be as close to the labial wall as it is possible
to make them, and as a right-angle application of
the wedge can rarely be made close to this wall,
it loses some of its spreading power at this part,
and just in proportion as the form, strength, and
accessibility of these cavities preclude the even
and complete consolidation of the gold, so will
the desirability of using either cohesive gold, or
a combination of cohesive and non-cohesive gold,
be appreciated, although, of course, great skill in
the manipulation of non-cohesive gold will increase
the range of its applicability.
In approximo-occlusal cavities in bicuspids and
molars, it is inadvisable to attempt more than a com-
bination filling. Some of the earlier dentists, whose
experience antedated the discovery and successful
use of cohesive gold, claimed to be able to make
satisfactory contour operations in these cavities with
non-cohesive gold alone. This was probably accom-
plished by much interlocking of the gold by driving
the pieces one into the other with sharp points;
but whatever may have been done in this direction
in the past, is now a lost art, and the use of non-