Page 235 - My FlipBook

freshing your memory on these points and pointing out their
relation to operative procedures upon the teeth of children.
In general terms we may say tljat the roots of the deciduous
teeth are completed at three years old, or that each decidu-
ous tooth will have its roots completed within one year after
it presents through the gums. Now, earlier than this we
should not expect to be able to fill roots of deciduous teeth
successfully ; neither would we apply arsenic earlier than this
to devitalize pulps in children's teeth. In general terms, we
may say that operations are not required upon children's
teeth earlier ; yet, in a few cases I have filled the incisors for
children before the third year, and I have seen a number of
gold fillings do well that had been made in the incisors of
children's teeth at an earlier date than this. But as a gen-
eral rule we will not be able to control children to do these
operations, and also, fortunately, we will not often have
occasion to do these operations so early.
Absorption of the Roots of the Deciduous Teeth.
The next difficulty that is encountered is the absorption
of the roots of temporary teeth. We may make out a sched-
ule of its occurrence that seems to be very regular and the
average will be nearly correctly represented, but it does not
represent the divergences from the average. That which
we must regard as normal diverges very widely from that
which we would regard as the average.
This figure here (referring to chart) is intended to rep-
resent the absorption of the roots of the temporary teeth.
The absorption of the roots of the central incisors begins
at about four years of age and is ended at seven. These lines
may represent it. Three to three and a half years is needed
for the absorption of the root. Now, let me interject here
just a moment. I notice that Brommell and Pierce and two
or three others have used the word decalcification of the
roots of these teeth, and I want to enter an objection to
the use of that word. Use the word absorption, not de-
calcification. If we place a tooth in an acid we decalcify
it, leaving the body of the tooth intact. In caries of the
teeth the tissue is first decalcified and afterward the basis
structure destroyed. Decalcification means something very
different from what we mean by the word absorption. In
the absorption of the roots of teeth the whole tissue is re-

223