Page 28 - My FlipBook

you will find it somewhat easier to proceed from the mesial
toward the distal—and pass your instrument into the pits and
grooves in each one of the molars and bicuspids. This seems
to be a simple matter, and yet often cavities in this position
remain undiscovered. For the examination a very fine point
is needed that will pass into a very small fissure or a very
small pit, for it is not infrequent that we find decay has
progressed considerably before there is any appearance of it
in the enamel, and the instrument should be small enough
to pass through a very small opening to determine whether or
not decay has begun in the depths of one of these pits. It
may have penetrated into and spread in the dentin beneath
the enamel. I have occasionally seen decay that included a
large part of the dentin of the crown of the tooth when the
eye could detect nothing whatever, and it was detected ontv
by the very smallest explorer.
When this has been done we will take the next surfaces
of the teeth in their order—the buccal and labial surfaces.
In examining the occlusal surfaces we did not take into con-
sideration the incisors and cuspids. In examining the buccal
surfaces we may begin with the third molar and pass around
the arch, or we may begin at the median line and pass around
the left side and then again at the median line and pass
around the right side beginning here at the median line (dem-
;
onstrating) passing the sharp point of the instrument onto
the labial surface and sliding it to the gingiva, passing it over
that surface mesio-distally, and then passing to the next
tooth, taking into consideration only the labial surfaces.
Now onto the buccal surfaces of the bicuspids and then onto

the buccal surfaces of the molars. In making this examina-
tion on the left side the patient's face should be turned to-
ward the operator. Do not depend upon your eye, do not
simply look over the teeth, and if they look pretty well say
there is no decay; pass your sharp instrument over the por-
tion of the surface that is liable to decay of every tooth, even
if they do look well ; it is the only safe proceeding. In doing
this the sharp point will drop into any slight break or catch
in softened enamel and detect the first beginning of decay.
Then change the position of the head of the patient so that
the face is from you and do the same with the teeth on the
right side, pass the sharp point of your instrument over every

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