Page 10 - My FlipBook

TRANSJ.ATOR\S PREFACE
vi
oral sepsis are such that no matter how the mouth and
teeth be cleansed, fixed apparatus of any kind is abso-
lutely out of place there. On the other hand, there are
many, even here in England, who as strenuously
contend that few more serious disasters can befall a
patient than for him to lose a tooth and be forced
to have it replaced by a })late artificial denture.
Secondly, the author holds, it will be observed, that
the destruction and removal of the pulp of a tooth
affected with pyorrhea is undesirable, and his devices
are accordingly designed with the view of avoiding this.
In this his opinion is distinctly at variance with that
of those who claim that pulp-removal has some
mysterious beneficent, though never properly explained,
influence on the peridontal membrane, as also with
that of the followers of Dr. J. P. Buckley of Chicago.
By him it has been well pointed out that " there are
many cases wherein the removal of the pulp is clearly
advocated—not, however, because of the supposed
stimulation which results, but because of its low state
of vitality and ultimate death—in which case the pyor-
rhoeal condition is likely to be complicated by the
presence of an alveolar abscess." Further, in the case
of the incisors, after pulp removal, advantage is
generally taken by such operators of the presence of the
root-canal, and they accordingly adapt thereto a post
connected with some form of supporting apparatus.
The author indicates how natural teeth may in
certain circumstances be removed and replaced
in their sockets, fixed to a sustaining apparatus, and