Page 233 - My FlipBook

PREPARATORY TO FILLING 217

up of the tooth as to thoroughly weaken it, and even
then the anterior root will present great difficulty
in many cases. A pulpless tooth is a brittle tooth,
and demands a goodly amount of strength if it is
not to afterwards break down. To greatly reduce
its strength in order to reach these canals may
necessitate a gold crown. The success of mummify-
ing pastes is so great that their use is certainly justi-
fied in these cases. The writer has no wish to lay
down rules in these or similar cases; he merely
wishes to suggest that a broad-minded method of
practice, based on the selection of methods that
appear most appropriate to the particular case in
hand, is most likely to do " the greatest good to the
greatest number." " Let the treatment fit the
case," rather than attempt to " make the case fit
the treatment."
Treatment of Teeth in ivhich Decomposition of the
PullJ has Taken Place.—When a pulp has died " a
natural death " it will usually be found in a putrid
condition. If it has been long dead the roots will
be filled with foul debris, in a more or less liquefied
state, and owing to the irritation caused by the ab-
sorption of the products of putrefaction, the peri-
dental membrane will be usually in a more or less
inflamed and diseased condition.
The treatment consists in carefully removing the