Page 242 - My FlipBook

238 PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS.

and circumstances will permit, a removal of all irri-
tating agents from the affected parts, will enable
nature alone to affect a restoration to health. All
decomposed dentine is to be removed from the cavity,
every exciting influence in it withdrawn or neutral-
ized, and the cavity itself perfectly rilled with some
non-conducting material, so as entirely to exclude all
foreign substances. This material may be Hill's
Stopping, or os artificial —and this, in the property
;
of non-conduction, is superior to any other ; —or, in
some cases, it may be tin or gold ; but, when either
of these is employed for the purpose of such tempo-
rary filling, some non-conducting substance should be
placed between it and the sensitive dentine. The
length of time necessary for a restoration of the
affected part, under this treatment, will be much
varied by circumstances. The cases susceptible of
this kind of treatment are those in which there is no

constitutional predisposition, in which the vitality is
strong, and the recuperative power vigorous. When
the temporary fillings are made of metals, the patient
should be careful to protect them from sudden changes
of temperature. For such fillings, in case they are
required but for a short time, a lock of cotton satu-
rated with a solution of gutta percha and chloroform,
may be used.
But, in cases in which the vitality is low, the