The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-03-21
Tooth Filling,

The performance of preparing tooth
for the reception of the gold, after the
decay has been cut away and the cavity
made ready, is barbarous in the ex-
treme. Imagine yourself seated in the
luxurious chair, with its head-piece and
foot-rest. Probably you have been
through the ordeal of having your teeth
separated, a divorce, by the way,
which will Danish you from "bed and
board either lawyers or red tape, and
is effected by wearing a piece of wood
between the teeth. It is not unlikely
to suppose that your masticators are all
sore, that you have not eaten or slept
but little for the past week, that your
nerves are not over strong, nor your
disposition more than amiable. Your
tooth is drilled and cut until the caYitv
is carefully prepared, and your endur-
ance almost exhausted. The dentist
leaves You to pass a moment with the
victims waiting in the front parlor, who
have kept the door-bell in motion for
the past hour, and, as each one entered,
caused your tormentor to smile compla-
Gently, and display a set of worries in
perfect order. Dentists always keep
their advertisements in an attractive
condition) He returns, and then be-
gins the systematic torture. A large
apron of rubber cloth is tied about your
neck, while two towels are tuckel
around your throat underneath. A piece
of thin gutta-percha eight inches square
is then forced between several of your
teeth that adioin the one to be filled.
It is carefully strained over that tooth
until the gum is forced back to the root.
A silver spring is then fastened below
the rubber to keep it up tight. By this
time your eyes are streaming tears,
even should you be a stole. A band
with clamps at each end is now thrown
about your chair and the piece of gut
ta-percha is secured firmly at the sides
of your cheeks. Your head feels as if
it were in a wise. Make up your mind
to remain in this position three hours,
with your mouth held open by strong
band with the saliva streaming down your
cheeks, and with an urchin holding n
mallet and pounding i'll the gold as fast
as the dentist places it. Dentists contin- |
ually quarrel with the mallet-boys, and |
if ever there was set of imps it is !
these needless fellows. They will look |
the other way, " and rap on the "sore |
spot in your tooth, as If they were |
beating time to a gallop. They are the |
particular object of a dentists ire, and |
provoke these exclamations ''Are you
going to sleep?" ''Strike easy" ''Look !
what you are about" The patient is
powerless to speak, and can only roll |
his eyes imploringly as the mallet-boy |
seems to take revenge on him. When |
at last the gold is all in, and the filling |
completed, when the straps and springs |
and rubber are removed, and you take
your paralyzed jaws between your
hands, and endeavor to shut them, then
do not suppose you are TO be released;
you are just ready for the ''dental drill'
or ''engine," which is to polish the gold
that has been SO firmly packed. This
engine is a most formidable looking
and on its first appearance you
and conclude you are to be
decapitated now for certainty. This
drill has a reverse-acting spiral spring,
with cord attachment, and drive
wheel with revolving axle, into the
center of which the drill-bit is set. It
is made to revolve by the action of
the foot on treadle. The bit is placed
next your tooth and the whole set in
motion; while you undergo the delight
full sensation of file whirling in your
tooth, your filing is polished as bright
as mirror.