Page 240 - My FlipBook

2 24 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH

of it. It disappears on the withdrawal of the
instrument. At each application of the root drier
it should be kept in the canal until sensation is
felt, so that the germicide is vaporised as much as
possible, and the sterilisation by heat is as complete
as possible. The treatment, carefully carried out in
this way, will take about half-an-hour. The time
can no doubt be reduced by reaching the apex more
rapidly ; but just how far it is safe to hurry this is
a question of individual experience. The practical
test of thorough root sterilisation is to leave the
canal unfilled, and tightly seal up the cavity of
decay with temporary gutta-percha for from three
days to a week. If the products of putrefaction
absorbed by the dentine have not been completely
or sufficiently neutralised, they will be given up by
the dentine, find their way into the canal, and out
at the apex, causing peridental inflammation and
pain. It will be well for any one who contemplates
immediate treatment to test this method in this
way, and to adopt it as a regular practice only
when he has by the above means—or, better still,
by laboratory experiment— assured himself of
its efficacy. Those operators who are able to
thoroughly ream out and greatly enlarge canals
in all cases, remove a good deal of infected dentine,
and this is a great help ; but just m proportion as