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234 'i'HE TREATMENT OF TEETH
prolonged or dressing method, and that it passes to
the dressing method as soon as in any case the
root is filled with the paste, and the tooth is only
temporarily filled. It is suggested, however, that
after the careful application of heat and vaporising
of medicaments, the tooth should be tightly sealed
at once as a test, and the treatment only repeated
if necessary.
Filling Boots.—This is a subject that must be
carefully approached, for the differences of opinion
that exist are many and various. Some operators
go so far as to say that if the whole of the root is
thoroughly sterilised it is of little or no moment
whether the canals are filled or not, providing the
apex is of normal size ; and that as long as the
orifices of the canals are sealed with the tooth
filling proper, these cases will prove just as satis-
factory as if the canals were filled. Others hold
that all canals should be solidly filled to the apex,
and that every effort should be made to enlarge
fine canals sufficiently to enable this to be
thoroughly done.
Many dentists (and even those who place no great
faith in the necessity for root - filling) prefer to fill
the canals with some antiseptic paste, generally
in connection with cotton-wool.
The theory of solidly filling canals, mainly con-