Page 237 - My FlipBook

PREPARATORY TO FILLING 221

that a barrier is thus set up which may prevent any-
further trouble. Some, amongst whom tho writer
is inchided, have not much faith in their own
ability, or in the ability of others, to fill all root-
canals in such a manner that the filling always
extends to and never beyond the apex, and with
materials that can be packed tight, and will remain
tight, without shrinkage or absorption. The ex-
periments made by Dr. Kirk to prove whether the
coagulation of albumen produced by certain remedies
(such as chloride of zinc) prevents their absorption,
certainly show that the dentine and cementum are
more permeable than is generally supposed (Dental
Cosmos, March 1894), giving good grounds for the
fear, always felt by the present writer, that sooner or
later (granting the apex is perfectly sealed) products
of putrefaction absorbed by the dentine, and allowed
to remain there, will find their way to and irritate
the peridental membrane through the solid structure
of the tooth.
Immediate Boot-Filling, which should properly be
termed the immediate treatment of roots, or the
treatment of roots at one sitting, can only be suc-
cessfully and scientifically practised if the whole of
the dentine of the root is sterilised at the one sittiner,
or if the apex is sealed and the root is then filled
with an antiseptic that will in due course become