Page 142 - My FlipBook

126 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
filling. This is done by placing part of the
amalgam in a piece of chamois leather, or linen
cloth, twisting the leather or cloth tightly around
the amalgam, and then squeezing the amalgam with
large strong pliers. The leather, or cloth, should
be held tightly around the button of amalgam, so
as to prevent any of the mercury being squeezed
into the folds of the leather, and becoming re-ab-
sorbed by the wafer. All the mercury that it is
possible to " get out " of the amalgam thus finds
its way through the pores of the leather or
cloth. The wafer is then broken up into suitable
sized pieces. If this squeezed amalgam is applied
to the surface of a completed filling, and thoroughly
incorporated by careful and proper packing, it
materially assists in the setting of the filling.
In large cavities it is often necessary to apply
the wafers before the filling is completed, thus
filling up part of the cavity with well-squeezed
amalgam. When wafers are added to a completed
filling, it is often a convenience to scrape off the
plus surface thus produced, and re- apply more
wafers, until the filling is sufiiciently hard to be
trimmed and smoothed.
It is important for an amalgam filling to be com-
pletely trimmed and made smooth before the patient
leaves the chair. It is very tedious and difficult to