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no THE TREATMENT OF TEETH —

lie knows there is nothing in the gold that will help
the tooth to resist decay. He will, in many cases, en-
large the cavity, so that the edges where the joints
between the gold and the tooth are made, can be
kept clean and free from collection of food deposits,
and which by their fermentation and consequent acid
reaction might cause a recurrence of decay at these
parts ; and by being brought out just to where they
can be readily seen and reached, admit of being
quickly and easily repaired, should decay again take
place. He will be careful to grind out all little
roughnesses and defects from the edges of cavities,
so that there will be no weakness or imperfection of
the joint to invite an attack of the enemy. He will
feel, in fact, that he is using a material that will last
if the tooth will, and therefore he will take pains to
enable the tooth to resist as long as possible. No
one can prophesy how long a gold fdling will last in
any individual case, but if the conditions are favour-
able, the majority last sufficiently long to fully justify
the time, care, and expense entailed in making them
;
and the dentist who inserts many gold fillings must
necessarily be skilful and extremely painstaking
qualities which ensure his patients getting full
justice done to them in all his operations.
Tin.—Tin as a filling material is now considered,
because its use dates almost as far back as gold.

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