Page 17 - My FlipBook

preference to the other in any considerable degree. If the
alloy has not been very well mixed and there are globules of
tin in it, all of those will be washed out with the mercury.
Now when you think you have rubbed that sufficiently (be
sure that you get it so that it is tough, and always you must
have it soft enough so that it will take an impression of the
markings of the skin) wrap it in a piece of muslin and wring
it. If ten of you club together and put in a cent a piece and
buy ten cents worth of muslin, it will perhaps do the ten of
you the year, so that it is not a very expensive proceeding
to have the muslin in which to wring this out. Now we have
the mix perfectly wrung out (demonstrating). It is not
necessary to wring it very hard. If you do it will set very
quickly, so that everything must be exactly ready to put in
your filling. If the cavity is situated so that it is going to
be more than usually difficult, I wouldn't wring it quite so
hard, calculating to take a little more time. Wrung out as
dry as this, the amalgam will be hard enough, when you have
made an occluso-proximal filling, almost immediately for
your temporary finish. You can open your contact a little
bit with the separator and take out your matrix almost im-
mediately. You will find that it gets hard almost as soon
as you have compressed it with your plugger point.
Let me say that, in my observation, there are very few
of you who use enough force in condensing amalgam fillings.
You should use all the force you can exert, using your broad
Those of you who
points. Now I mean this, every bit of it.
know you cannot use the usual amount of force with the
fingers, had better use a mallet ; have an assistant use a mal-
let and mallet in your amalgam fillings. I prefer, however,
the hand pressure for making amalgam fillings. The amal-
gam moves slowly, you can't drive it as well as you can push
it into place. It yields slowly to pressure. It is different from
gold in that respect, and for that reason either a very heavy
mallet or else hand pressure is much the best for condensing
amalgam. And, mind you, if your amalgam crumbles as this
does now (demonstrating), since it has begun to set, one of
two things is wrong — you have either rubbed it up after
wringing very dry or else you haven't rubbed it up sufficiently
to begin with. If you do not rub it sufficiently to begin
with it will be granular ; if you have wrung it too dry and then