Page 210 - My FlipBook

194 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
is not yet accurately determined. The retention of
an inlay in a cavity will depend on the considera-
tion of many things, and most failures will be over-
come by experience. There is every probability,
however, that the original idea that these inlays
could be satisfactorily placed in almost any kind
of cavity from which the decay was removed
and the margins smoothed, to the great benefit of
excessively nervous and sensitive patients, will
have to undergo some modification. Depth of
cavity is now being considered as a sine qua non of
success, but it has been pointed out that in many
cases depth and pulp preservation cannot be secured
in the same cavity. The fact that some inlays
come out should not prejudice any one against this
method. All kinds of tillings have " come out,"
and methods of preventing this with other materials
were not arrived at " in a day." The same applies
to crown work and to bridge w6rk. The fact that
a crown or a bridge becomes loose merely stimulates
investigation of right principles. Decay may take
place at the margins of an inlay. This has, how-
ever, been known to occur at the margins of any
kiad of filling, and maintenance of integrity of
tooth-structure at the margins of inlays must be
considered in its relation to other fillings.
The writer's experience with the white cements