The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-07-18
DENTISTRY'S RAPID STEPS.
The Old Methods of Pulling and Treating
Teeth Contrasted with the New.

Philadelphia Press
Perhaps no other branch of the healing
art has made more rapid strides during the
last fifty years than dentristy. Many q
middle aged man can recollect the horror
he experienced when as a lad he was
dragged to the office wherein resided. a
strong, muscular ogre. whose aim in life
was to terrify the rest of the commun-
ity by deciding that this root must come
out" OF that "snaa has got to be pulled"
But what change to-day. At present. in
the big cities. teeth are picked out by
specialists who don't do any thing else. and
these experts become so practioed that n
single twist 10 required. where. years ago.
three or four horrible, straining eDdeavors
would have been necessary TO extract big
moiar.
In speaking recently of the progress Of
dentistry. DIR. g. ID. b. Darby. of this city,
mentioned the fact that hereafter students
In all the recognized dental schools will be
required TO pursue q three or four years
course. The first den tai college in the Unit
ed States, he added. was established iDlS40
at Baltimore. and at that time no one had TO
go to college before practicing dentistry.
In 1864 there were but three Others IN this
country, two here in Philadelphia and one
In Cincinnati. Even as late a. the civil war
n cOiltst tQuCdtl0UiWde not requisite. DuI AT
this time there are twenty-sX or twenty
eight schools In the United States, and L
think nearly every State has laws com
polling collegiete course to the would-be
practitioner. All the work was done 10y
hand up TO 1871, when the dental engine was
invented by an American.
I'm 1S40 teeth were filled with gold prin-
cipally, and with gutta-percha. anu. of
course, all the cutting and hammering had
TO be done by hand. Up until 1865 there
A. ~ IA a II m da All liar
and the use of this has almost revolution
lied the practice of dentistry. Then, too.
soft gold was used, but now cohesive gold il
a very important factor IN the art OF tilling
teeth. The year after the closed the
first automatic mallet was invented. and it
sprang into immediate anu universal favor.
Chisels. excavators and pluggers of one
kind and another were then used. but prior
TO 1871 all the excavating had 10 be done by
hand with these instruments and few
hand-burrs.
The dental engine, however. lessons the
time of torture fully one-half. and does the
work perfect. About twenty years ago. DR..
W. u. A. Bonwill happened To notice IN the
Continental Hotel the clicking of a tele-
graph instrument he thought over it, and
from this idea evolved the electric mallet.
i believe my father was the first person W TO
ever used this instrument, and the first
tooth ever filled with its assistance is in
good condition today. BY the way. cleo
tricity 10 going TO play a very important
part III ZIG Oh ueDtlttTy. NOW the
fully equipped practitioner has an electric
motor In a corner and with IL his engine is
run. Then We uss little electric lights in
connection with the mouth mirror. and az
night we use il with a reflector Electricity
Is also used as galvano cautery to burn
out dead tissue and diseased bope instead
of cutting them away. This renders
the work almost painless, and as you
can see is a very important adjunct.
Years ago electricity was used extern
the pain. The patient held one pole In his
hands, and the other one was connected
with the handles of the forceps. When the
operator clasped the forceps on the tooth
received a severe shock just at the moment
when the operator pulled the tooth. But
the question was whether the shock was
not worse than the pain.
the teeth. Formerly the dentist would cut
away sound tissue IN order 10 get To a dead
spot between the teeth; but now the latter
are pulled apart temporarily by a separator
and close up again when the operation ~
completed by the aid of the engine. Flat
fillings had to. be used exclusively years
ago. whereas nowadays cohesive gold en-
ables us to make them convex and preserve
the natural shape of the teeth. Ii has only
been few years since teeth were extracted
by means of a hammer and chisel, In the
far East, just as horses teeth are punched
out here to-day.
A short time ago there was no metnO0
for STRENGTHENING the teeth. but now there's
10 reason for people 20 have crooked teeth.
We can take a person, the teeth of whose
lower jaw protrude beyo nd those of the mp
per, and make them mt nicely. In fact. a
beautiful giri can be made out of q fright
by good dentist. Cases have been known
where people died from a dead tooth which
caused an sbscess and resulted In blood
poisoning. But this is almost impossible to-
day, if a good operator il seen in time.
xrh a-a ia tala had
to be inserted. the dentist put In great
clumsy plate. partially covering the roof
of the mouth. At present. IL there IL q
support to build Cd. we make regular
bridge, and cement it in position without
any plate at all. In week the patient
forgets that he ever lost a tooth. More
| than that. .eeth ars even implanted. Sup
pose you go to a dentist and say you lost .
tooth five or six years ago. but you want n
new one implanted. He drills a hole in
| YOUR law and takes human tooth that has
been extracted maybe months OF even
wears previous, to correct an irregularity
! in somebody's else mouth. He scrapes and
| cleans the other fellows tooth. anu plants
| il in the hole in your jaw, and therein nc
grows
IL think the general run of teeth are be-
coming worse as the years go by. The an
clients certainly had better teeth than peo-
pie possess to-day. This is to be accom- ted
for in great measure by the luxurious food
people eat. The use of tobacco preserves
teeth. but may cause spongy gums and ALL
sorption. In fact. 1 never knew of but one
perfect set of teeth, and the owner of these
was a girl of nineteen years. Before long,
however she suffered an attack of typhoid
fever. and since then some of those splendid
teeth have decayed."