Page 259 - My FlipBook

EXPOSED PULPS. 255

pulps, have incited the profession to seek some
other method of treatment. A vacuum above the
pulp being objectionable, some suitable material is
employed as a shield for this, being placed on the
orifice of exposure, in contact with the pulp; and
the filling is then introduced without pressure upon
the point of exposure. There are several substances
that have been thus employed, the chief of which are
asbestos, oiled silk, collodion, gutta-percha, Hill's
stopping, and os artificial. The material for this

purpose should be a non-conductor of heat, should
not be subject to decomposition when in contact with
the pulp, and should present a smooth surface and be
easily adapted. In shielding a pulp in this manner,
it is important that pressure be not made upon it;
and there is not much liability to this, where the
orifice of exposure is small; but, where it is large,

much care is required in the introduction and con-
solidation of the plug. The opinion has been enter-
tained by some, that the pulp of a tooth will not
tolerate any foreign substance in contact with it;
but' facts refute such an opinion. By this kind of
protection for a pulp, secondary dentine is more
likely to be developed.
A very perfect covering for an exposed pulp may
be made by dropping on it a little collodion or
solution of gutta-percha, and after the evaporation of