Page 259 - My FlipBook

PREPARATORY TO FILLING 243
relief of the patient, and the satisfaction of the
dentist.
If much degeneration of the peridental membrane
has taken place, the use of germicides, and caiiterants
and the most thorough cleansing and careful root-
filling will fail to restore the parts to health. An
improvement in the conditions is all that can be
hoped for. It is astonishing, however, how long
a badly diseased tooth may be comfortably and
usefully retained in the mouth owing to the above
treatment, although sooner or later it will be
lost.
Dr. Thomas, of Philadelphia, who practises ex-
traction as a speciality, finds that sooner or later all
" so-called dead teeth " fall a prey to the forceps,
but that careful treatment postpones extraction in the
majority of cases for a long time. Much depends
on the constitution of the patient. The exact
condition of the affected parts cannot be ascertained
while the tooth is in the mouth. All that can be
done is simply to apply remedies, and if the tooth
readily becomes comfortable and can be satisfactorily
used for mastication, a cure may be considered to be
effected. Those dentists who treat and fill all
pulpless teeth that appear to be worth saving, find
that a very great majority are by means of the
treatment usually retained for a long time, and