Page 223 - My FlipBook

PREPARATORY TO FILLING 207
pulp exposure is, so long as it is an exposure. This
I
method usually takes from three to live minutes to
completely anaesthetise a pulp, but is not always
'
successful. It is, however, successful in a sufficient
number of cases to make it a most useful method,
and if it fails not much time has been wasted in
trying it. Molars, however, seem to resist the
'
treatment much more incisors, canines, or
' than
bicuspids, and the writer having tried it in a few
molars with poor success, has confined himself to
the other teeth. It has been stated that inflamed
I pulps resist this treatment in a marked degree, just
as they resist the application of arsenic. Cocaine
I
solutions, or any of the mixtures used for pressure
anaesthesia, have been injected into pulps with a
hypodermic syringe. The sharp point of the needle
I
is ground off, the end is placed on the point of
;
exposure, the cavity around the needle is packed
i
full of unvulcanised rubber, and the piston is slowly
jL
and gradually depressed, stopping for a short time
if pain is caused, and increasing the force as the
j
pulp becomes obtunded. The writer has no
experience of this method, but it is alluded to by
Mr. W. S. Holford {British Dental Journal, June
1903) as being particularly applicable to accident-
ally fractured teeth where no cavity of decay exists.
Mr. Holford cuts the needle short, so that only