Page 256 - My FlipBook

240 THE TREATMENT OF TEETH
gutta-percha in chloroform, fills the canal with it,
and then introduces and presses down a gutta-
percha point. He claims that this produces a
moisture-tight and gas-tight filling, and that the
rosin is in itself an antiseptic. In using gutta-
percha points tAvo things are of importance. One is
to test the size of the apical foramen by carefully
inserting Swiss broaches with the sharp points cut
off, until one is found that will distinctly "jam"
against the apex without penetration, and then to
cut off the end of the gutta-percha point accord-
ingly. The other is to insert the gutta-percha
point with as little pressure as possible. The
writer filled several roots in extracted teeth by
first filling them with chloro - percha, and then
forcing in a gutta-percha point. He was alarmed
at the quantity of chloro-percha that was forced
through the apex in nearly every case. A digres-
sion may be made for a moment to point out the
ease with which any medicament with which a
canal is treated may be forced through the apex
by a forcible or hurried filling of the cavity of
decay with temporary gutta-percha. A root should
never be solidly filled unless it has been thoroughly
scraped out, for fear of forcing some of the debris,
through the apex, and setting up inflammation by
either septic or mechanical irritation. It is also

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