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136 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
and some tind it is also of great assistance to them
in filling the incisors and cuspids. It is in filling
cavities with amalgam that the largest use is made
of a matrix, and it is therefore appropriate to briefly
allude to it now.
As far as gold is concerned, the matrix may or
may not prove useful. This will depend on what
may be termed the individuality, or methods of
manipulation, of the operator. The cases are com-
paratively rare in which a matrix will facilitate or
improve a gold tilling, and although some operators
make large use of it, finding it decidedly advan-
tageous ; others work quite as easily, rapidly, and
accurately, without it, and would indeed regard
it as greatly interfering with their work. In
filling approximo - occlusal cavities with amalgam,
however, it is considered to be of great value by
a large number of dentists. In the opinion
of the writer, its principal value is in con-
nection with quick-setting amalgams that demand
great pressure in order to bring about the best
results. There is no necessity to use it if an
amalgam of average plasticity and average setting
qualities is employed. In making an amalgam
filling in an approximo-occlusal cavity, the fol-
lowing method will give good results without a
matrix, presuming the amalgam is a suitable one as

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