The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-22
THE SCIENCE OF DENTISTRY.
The Operating and Mechanical Rooms at
the Indiana Dental College.
Wonderful Things in Dental Surgery-Arti-
fetal Noses and Palates-What Science
Requires Of It's Votaries.

Yesterday afternoon Journal reporter at
tended clinic at the Indiana Dental College.
The college, now in its fifth year, has thirty
three students. In the operatingroom, five
afternoons in each week. that is every day ex-
cept Saturday and Sunday the students are
given practical instruction in the dentals art.
This department is under the direction of the
professor of practical dentistry, DR.. J. E. era
vens, but, as he was absent the reporter was
shown through the operating-room by the de
mOnstrator, Dr. II. Elson, of Auburn, Ind. Dr.
Elson is assisted by Messrs. Chandler and Key
ser; and the fourteen chairs in the room each
contained patient, from fifteen to twenty pa
tients being treated each afternoon, the charges
for work, which embraces every variety known
to the dental art, being merely nominal, sufi-
eient to cover the cost of material and assist in
paying necessary contingent expenses. The dem
onstrator called the attention of the reporter
TO a number of the patients in the chairs.
''This," said he, rs case of sore TOOTH A
fourth of the tooth is gone. In former days
not long ago, either-the dentist would have
pulled that tooth out, and that would have
ended it, Now we fl. and save it. Here's
case where there is diseased nerve. We de-
stroy the nerve and fill the crown of the tooth"
Going to a third chair, he explained: 'In this
case are comforting a tooth; bringing it to its
natural condition in shape and form. The next
patient is boy fourteen years old. He has
spinal disease. We do not think he could stand
extraction, and we simply put in pulp and de-
vitalze, that is, destroy the nerve, after which
the tooth is filed and saved" There were sew
eral other patients, among thema an eight-year-old
boy whose teeth struggled like a stake and rider
fence. This" said the demonstration, lis
of maformation of the maxilaries, and the
teeth stand in an abnormal shape 1t will not
take more than week to bring these seemingly
difficult teeth into proper shape"
The reporter next visited the mechanical de-
partment, which is in charge of Prof Thomas S.
Hacker where plates of various kinds were being
made and other operations of mechanical den
tistry were being conducted Dr. Hacker was
in a conversational mood. Some paper the
other day." said he ''spoke of the TRANSFORMING
of teeth as a discovery of very recent date. That
is mistake. TRANSFORMING is not at all new
thing-that is the taking of teeth from one
mouth and putting them into another"
Thereporter in confirmation of this, called to
mind the heroine of one of Eugene Sues novels
THE Mysteries of Paris, ? in which she had ru=
med her beauty by drawing and selling herteetht
''Replantingo continued the Doctor, lis recent,
but has been practeed with great success Re
planting is returning tooth TO the same mouth
from which it has been taken. A tooth knocked
out by accident may be replaced and viii attach
itself as firmly as ever to the alVeOlaf process
In the case of an abseess the tooth may be- taken
out cleaned and replaced The operation, is pct
always successful, but it isin great majority of
times. The pulling Of the tooth breaks and de-
StrOVs the absceSS 1t is better to put back the
natural tooth when it can be done than to insert
an artificial grinder. Dentists of to-day are do
ing number of things that would have aston
ished the dentists of the old school 1t is not an
unusual thing now for dentist to make a1tifi-
ri Al and oh boYn
with congenital assure or cleft palate. We re-
store the solf palate with soft rubber aud the
hard palate with hard rubber. When thisopen-
| ing is small say about the diameter of q lead
pencil, the covering we make for it looks like a
| collar button. 1t buttons into the opening, the
mucous membrane closing over sufficiently to
hold it.
"A few days ago we made set of teeth for
| young fellow who has lost his lower jaw by
necrosis-rotting away of the bone. A carti-
| laginous substance has formed that answers the
purpose of the lost bone to a great extent. Next
| to the condyle of the Jaw this cartilage has
| hardened. and seems in fair way to become
! fully ossifed, and perhaps this Justification may
/ in time entend through the entire inferior max
| llary The teeth work admirably, as he moves
| the jaw easily and naturally. The only deform-
ity is depression at the chin, and we, shall be
able to restore shat. The F0ttinga away OF the
| jaw probably had its origin in a dead nerve,l
| which caused an abseess when thepatient was a
child, which was misunderstood and neglected
tention it should have had. - T.. 80 ;is
care there not numerous injuries to the Jaw
caused by the violent and unskillfnl extracting
of teethP inquired the reporter. ..0' v.t-4
'.Some but less than formerly. 1t does not
require great exercise of strength to remove
tooth. | am by no means strong man. and
yet have no difficulty, when it is required, to
extract a tooth. What is demanded is that the
operator should understand the direction in
which the roots OF the teeth are turned and the
construction of the alveolar process, the socket
in which the teeth are set. Frequently a simple
twist will bring the tooth without any pulling at
all. The rising generation viii not wear arti-
fetal teeth so generally as the present genera
ton, and dentistry will not suffer by reason of
it, 1t is not unusual now to fill childs first
teeth. Children are taught to take care of their
teeth, and while from year to year there is less
and less extracting Of teeth the business of fill
ing them is constantly increasing The dentist,
you see. is required by reason of this change to
be more than q mere t0oth-puller. Formerly the
dentist paid attention to features. He clapped
the artificial teeth in, something to eat with and
that was ali Jhere was of it, You could then
(and can sometimes now tell man woman
who wore artificial teeth as far oil as you could
see them Now when we put in a set we take
into consideration the restoration of the features
to what they were with the natural teeth The
features are closely examined an artist studies
a model in statuary or painting and the
plate is built up to remedy any facial defects.
In the mechanical department here stu
dents are taught how to make not only artificial
teeth and everything needed in dentistry but
their own Instruments. A young man here
would be able to make gold jewelry and other
ornaments. The whole secret of mans success
in dentistry lies in his mechanical in
genuity. He must be natural mechanic to
begin with, and then be wde-awake and ready
to apply the discoveries that are constantly be-
ing brought into our art and made neces-
rubber palates. Dr. p. G. C. Hunt
is the first man in the State to successfully man