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46 PATHOLOGY OF THE HABD TISSUES OF THE TEETH.

gentleman was about twenty-eight years old, and the normal
wear where the lower teeth had occluded against the lingual
surfaces of the upper incisors was unmistakable, showing that
it had not been very long in progress. The teeth were so sensi-
tive that the patient was greatly annoyed, and was seeking relief.
The teeth were cut in such a way as to cup them out slightly upon
the labial surfaces. The proximal surfaces were wasting per-
haps as much as the labial surfaces, but were cut pretty squarely
almost as though they had been filed. The teeth showed no traces
of scratches of any kind, but they were not as smooth and glossy
as most cases of erosion; they were more like the one last
described. In this case I advised that porcelain crowns be placed
on the teeth after devitalization.
Irregulab AREAS. In Figure 56 is presented another class
of case entirely, which will be described under the head of irreg-
ular areas. In this case there are grooves passing across the
teeth from mesial to distal, not always at the same angle nor of
the same depth, some appearing upon the mesial most, and
others appearing upon the distal most, and so on. Occasionally
I see this with the groove reaching not more than half across
the labial surface of the tooth, but cutting very deeply ; in fact,
they may present almost any form, but generally in grooves from
mesial to distal.
In one case that came under my observation a single groove
was cut across the teeth at about the middle of the length of the
crown, less than two millimeters wide, and cut squarely in, fully
one-half through the tooth, affecting the two centrals and one
lateral. This case occurred in my own practice a number of
years ago when I was trying to prevent the spreading of erosion
by filling, and in this case it was cut so squarely that I fUled with
gold the cavities formed in the centrals without any excavation
whatever. I had the satisfaction of seeing these fillings remain
perfect until the time of the gentleman's death, some ten years
later. No renewal whatever of the erosion occurred. In a large
collection of casts, a good many of these irregular cuts may be
found.
Figured areas. In Figure 57 is presented an illustration of
what may be designated as figure cutting in erosion, that is,
cases in which the erosion takes a form of some particular com-
plex type. In tliis, in the central incisor on the left of the figure,
a rounded groove is cut across the labial face of the tooth near
the junction of the middle and gingival thirds. From that a
groove is cut along the mesial border straight to the incisal edge,