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2 14 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
tooth will be re-dressed, and although the superficial
sensitiveness may be sufficiently obtunded to admit
of the freest exposure, deeper exploration produces
pain, and eventually the arsenical dressing is removed,
the tooth temporarily filled, and the patient told
to return in a few months or earlier if painful
symptoms or uneasiness develop. If a large
quantity of arsenic is used, and the dressing fre-
quently repeated, or left in the tooth for a long
time, in all probability severe peridental inflamma-
tion of an almost uncontrollable character will be
set up, and extraction will usually follow. In
the text-books allusion is made to the occasional
resistance of a pulp to the action of arsenic, but
that it is of frequent occurrence accords Avith the
experience of many dentists. In the Journal of the
British Dental Association for April 1894, an article
by Mr. Arthur King appeared on this subject in
which the by no means infrequent resistance of
the pulp to arsenic is alluded to. The use of what
are known as mummifying pastes has great value
in such cases. It is a rare thing for a pulp to live
after an application of arsenic, and it should there-
fore never be calculated on. It is the time that
the pulp takes to die that is frequently so trouble-
some, and especially so if it decomposes and an
abscess forms before the patient returns. The appli-