Clarksville daily chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1884-188?, 1884-11-05
MAklNo ARrlrcIAL rEErH.
The Eest UHaserfRls-A Triangular
DueI-TrAde Fla ures.
brooklyn Eagle.1

brooklyn Eagle.l
The making of artificial teeth is a
trade In which a large amount Of inge-
nuity Is displayed, both in the adapta-
ton of new substance and in the mode
Of shaping and finishing. When artif-
cial teeth began to be made, instead of
using the natural teeth Of dead persons
they were made of bone, of the most
costly kind of ivory, from the tusks of
the elephant, rhinocerous, hippopota-
mus, walrus or narwhal. If only sin
gle tooth were wanted, it was custom
airy to cut a bit of bone to the proper
shape, and tie it to the next tooth by a
ligature of wire. 1t is still found that
-tIisk bone possesses the best eombina-
ton of properties. 1t combines as a
learned authority in the dental world
tells us, ''lightness, strength, and solid
ity, with a natural appearance and a
certain congeniality to the mouth pos
sessed by no other material, which rem
der both partial pieces and entire sets at
once the most useful substitutes for the
lost natural teeth"
The mechanical dentist must be a
genuine workman. When he is about
to make bone or ivory teeth he cuts a
tusk into pieces and shapes each piece
by an elaborate series of mechanical pro-
cesses. Sometimes, for a customer who
has plenty of dollars to spare, he will
make a whole set, upper or lower, as
the case may be, out of one piece He
saws his block of ivory roughly to the
size, and then with Infinite patience
files and graves it into shape. He has
at hand a model of the patients gum,
and works to that model with exactness.
The teeth are not separate pieces they
are cut into apparent rather than real
separation, like the teeth of comb.
An artistic workman will take care that
the teeth shall present some of the ir-
regularity which our natural grinders
always exhibit; learner falls into the
mistake of making them too good. Many
people do not like to wear dead peoples
teeth-there is something uncomfortable
In the idea; there is also frequently a
germ of decay in such teeth, aud these
two reasons led to the custom of making
artificial ivory teeth. Ivory, however,
with all its excellences, becomes discol-
ored, and hence the motive for making
teeth of certain mineral or vegetable
compositions. There is, in fact, a sort
of triangular duel always going on
among the ivory dentists, mineral den
fists, and vegetable dentists, each class
fighting stoutly against both of the
others.
Whether the dentist really makes the
teeth which he inserts in your Uranium
Is a question he does not deem it neces-
sary to answer. In truth, he very
rarely ever does anything of the kind.
There are certain dealers who sell sets of
teeth, half SETS twos or threes, singles
or doubles, front or back, top or bottom,
finished OF unfinished, as well as all the
apparatus and tools required for the
dentists art. And some of these dealers
themselves are supplied by manufacture
ers who conduct operations on a consid-
cradle scale.
The United States is ahead of all other
countries in this art. A recent comput>
tation makes the number Of artificial
teeth fabricated here as high as 6,OOO,-
900 neutrality-suspicious. according to
some folks notions) of 6,000,0 900 attacks
of toothachos In one Of the largest and
most complete factories where mineral
teeth are made, the chief ingredients CON-
prise feldspar, silica and clay, those Of
subsidiary character are sundry metallic
oxides, to produce those tints of discol-
grafton which are necessary to make the
imitation good one. The feldspar,
silica and clay are ground to an impalpa-
BILE powder under water, then dried
and made into paste. The teeth are
cast in brass moulds, varied in size and
shape to suit the requirements of the
mouth. A special kind of paste to form
the enamels is first put into the mold
with a small steel spatula; the platinum
rivets, by which the teeth are to be
fastened, are adjusted in position, and
the paste forming the body of the tooth
Is introduced until the mold is filled up.
.Eent ensue powerful pressure and
drying. When removing from the mold
the tooth goes through process called
biscuiting analogous to particular
stage IN porcelain MANUFACTURED, in
which stage 1t can be cut like chalk. 1t
is then sent TO the trimmer, who scrapes
off all roughness and unnecessary pro-
jections, and fills up any depressions
which may have been left in the opera
ton Of molding. A wash called enamel
is made by selecting various ingredients
more fusible than those of the teeth,
grinding them to fine powder with
water, and applying the thick liquid as
paint, by means Of q camels. hair pencil.
The tooth then goes to the GUNNER who
applies gum comprising oxide Of gold
and other ingredients. At length heat
is applied The tooth, when dried, is
put into muff1e, or enameley's oven,
where mis- placed On q layer Of crushed
quartz strewn over slab of fre-resist-
ing clay. After being exposed for time
to an intense heat, the tooth is taken
out and cooled, and there it is, beautiful
forever