Page 232 - My FlipBook

2i6 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
the fine No. 5 Donaldson canal cleanser if tliey
are small, scraping the dead pulp out bit by bit
if necessary. The value of the Evans root-canal
drier instead of the more usually employed in-
struments has been alluded to, and will be found
particularly valuable if the canals are difficult to
" get at." In many cases it can be successfully,
used with far less cutting away of a tooth than
would be necessary if the pulp extractors or canal
cleansers were used in posterior cavities in molars.
The careful and thorough removal of the pulp
is often difficult and sometimes impossible. A good
deal of trouble is sometimes set up by forcing the
instrument through the apex, and in very fine
canals, especially if the operator desires to be
thorough, this may easily happen. It is far better
to make every reasonable effort to remove the Avhole
of a pulp, and then to trust to the careful working
down of mummifying paste, than to spend a great
deal of time in making almost superhuman efforts
which after all may not be crowned with success.
The operator should be guided by circumstances,
and all the " j^ros and cons " should be con-
sidered. An attempt to thoroughly remove the
pulp from a second or even a first lower molar for
instance — particularly if the cavity of decay is on
the distal surface—often demands such severe cutting