Page 66 - My FlipBook
P. 66
;
62 CARIES OF THE TEETH.
measure for in most instances the fluid comes in
;
contact with all parts of the mouth. A subsequent
rinsing of the mouth with water effects only a dilution,
not an entire removal of the acid. In order wholly
to counteract their injurious influence upon the teeth,
an alkaline solution should be used after the adminis-
tration of such medicines.
Galvanic action is a cause of decay of the teeth,
only so far as it is a means of decomposing com-
pounds in the mouth, and the elements of which,
according to the laws of affinity, form other com-
pounds, prejudicial to the teeth. The elements hy-
drogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, may thus be set free
from animal and vegetable substances, when they will
at once seek other elements with which to combine
and the character of the combinations will be deter-
mined by the nature of the elements, and by the
attendant circumstances. These compounds will fre-
quently be of an acid character.
Such an arrangement may exist as will maintain a
constant galvanic action, whose legitimate effects will
be as constant upon the teeth ; and this ceaseless
process cannot but make its mark. It is a favorable
arrangement for galvanic action when there are two
or three kinds of metals in the mouth at once, par-
ticularly if these are such as differ in their affinities
for oxygen, and in their electric conditions. In some
62 CARIES OF THE TEETH.
measure for in most instances the fluid comes in
;
contact with all parts of the mouth. A subsequent
rinsing of the mouth with water effects only a dilution,
not an entire removal of the acid. In order wholly
to counteract their injurious influence upon the teeth,
an alkaline solution should be used after the adminis-
tration of such medicines.
Galvanic action is a cause of decay of the teeth,
only so far as it is a means of decomposing com-
pounds in the mouth, and the elements of which,
according to the laws of affinity, form other com-
pounds, prejudicial to the teeth. The elements hy-
drogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, may thus be set free
from animal and vegetable substances, when they will
at once seek other elements with which to combine
and the character of the combinations will be deter-
mined by the nature of the elements, and by the
attendant circumstances. These compounds will fre-
quently be of an acid character.
Such an arrangement may exist as will maintain a
constant galvanic action, whose legitimate effects will
be as constant upon the teeth ; and this ceaseless
process cannot but make its mark. It is a favorable
arrangement for galvanic action when there are two
or three kinds of metals in the mouth at once, par-
ticularly if these are such as differ in their affinities
for oxygen, and in their electric conditions. In some
