The American Dental Institute (Limited).

  • American Dental Institute Ltd
Date:
[approximately 1891?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The American Dental Institute (Limited). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/48 (page 18)
    , London Addresses. E5, St. James’s Street, S.W. 34, Thurloe Square, S.W. 44, Finsbury Square, E.C. 1, Francis Street, Victoria Street, Westminster. l8 decayed, and refuting the ordinary dentist’s opinion as to many teeth being too badly decayed to have gold put into them. Reasons why Gold is better than any other Material for Filling Teeth.—The other stoppings usually employed are either white cements, gutta-percha, or amalgams. No cement has yet been discovered that is not more or less soluble in saliva, therefore it becomes dissolved in the mouth, the edges of the cavity soon get exposed, and decay recommences, to say nothing of the fact that these fillings are not hard enough to long resist the wear of mastication or the friction of the tooth-brush. Gutta-percha, properly made, mixed with ground glass and properly applied, is really a good filling in certain cavities. It is useful where neither mastication nor tooth-brush can touch it, but it will not resist the wear of either, and for many reasons it is only suitable in a few cases, except for temporary purposes. Amalgams are mixtures of various metals with mercury, and whilst hardening by a chemical combination, they either shrink or expand. If they expanded they would burst the tooth, so they are made just to shrink, and however carefully applied, the edge of the amalgam shrinks from the sides of the cavity and leaves space for decay again to commence. Further, the oxide of mercury.