Page 89 - My FlipBook

FILLING TEETH yi

proached; and the accurate condensation of the
fining at all parts is not interfered with. All
retainage must be made in accessible places. It is
no use making an accessible part of a cavity either
inaccessible or difficult of access by undercutting,
and it must not be forgotten that to make an
undercut takes up time and often causes pain,
and that to fill the undercut also takes time.
It may therefore be laid down that it is distinctly
advisable to make retainage in places that are easily
reached and can be readily and accurately filled,
and that no more undercutting should be done
than is absolutely necessary. The operator must,
however, be guided by the circumstances of each
case, and when necessary, time and convenience
must be sacrificed to stability. As an illustration
of this, the writer once saw a celebrated dentist, who
was renowned for the rapidity with which he could
insert gold fillings, demonstrate his method. The
skill and manipulative dexterity of this operator
was of a very high order, but he so hollowed out
the cavity in order to easily and rapidly insert the
gold, that it was not surprising to learn that the
filling shortly afterwards remained in a perfect
state of preservation in the waistcoat pocket of the
patient. If this cavity had been prepared with
every respect for maintenance of strength of tooth