Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-12-01
DENTAL SCIENCE

Artificial Teeth Are Cheap Luxury =
Secrets of the Profession.
We sold 100000 more false teeth last
year than we ever disposed of before
in twelvemonth," said the manager Of
a great dental supply establishment to a
New York Telegram reporter. Il don't
imagine that people are loosing their
teeth more rapidly now than heretofore.
although it is unquestionably Ihn case
that the enduring quality Of the human
chewing apparatus has become progress
sively les from generation to generation
in this country. 1t is more the fashion
now than it has ever been in the past
to wear false teeth, partly for the reason
that the public has come to realize what
excellent substitutes they are for real
ones, and partly owing to the fact that
toOthlessness e1cites wuch more disgust
than it did in old times, when such an
atf1iction was commonly observed and
was regarded as unavoidable.
1T is very rare to see a person, nova
days, whether a man or woman. visiDly
distigured by the absence Of teeth. Any
body whose grinders viii fall out will,
in nearly every case, go to a dental sur
geon and procure artificial ones. They
don't cost much. You can get complete
double set for from $15 up to
Probably a fashionable dentist will
charge you the latter price. His margin
of profit is considerable, inasmuch as
the teeth themselves cost only from
10 to IS cents apiece. They are made
Of porcelain, of kaolin usually, baked
in an oven. For the plates the material
best approved is rubber. The hand
soonest plates are made of cellulOid, and
they have the advantage of lightness IN
weight, but cellulOid does not resist
all the acids with which it comes into
contact in the mouth. Aluminium has
been tried, but it is affected by vinegar
and salt, as well as by other substances
that are eaten, the result being the de
velOpement Of a salt aluminium, which
is thought to be injurious to the system.
The anamel Of artificial teeth is COM
posed of natalie oxides and the finish
ing process to which they al = subjected
are so delicate that no two teeth produo-
ed can be made exactly alike in point OF
cOloring. Among all the hundred Of
thousands of teeth which we keep in
stock, probably no two would match to
, absolute perfection. But those that are
most nearly alike are put together so
that the eye of nobody but an expert
would detect and difference. After all,
natural teeth exhibit marked dissimil-
arities in any individual.
1T does not do to make false teeth
too handsome, lest they appear unnatur-
al, and dental surgeons commonly carry
their limitations of nature so far as to
make teeth look in many instances more
or less defective, the better to carry
out tn deception. What is called "brid,,e
work consists in inserting a false tooth
in a gap between two natural ones in
the jaw. fastening it in place by gold
, bands around the adjoining teeth. Gold
crowns are frequently put on teeth.
Gold crowns are frequently put on old
roots nowadays, this device having the
advantage that the crown can be readily
removed at any time for the purpose of
keeping the root beneath in good condi-
ton.
'"The latest important invention in the
line of dentistry is machine by which
steel eXcayating burs are made. HiUher-
to these delicate little instrumnts have
had to be manufactured by hand. You
can only perceive how very delicate
they are by examining them under q
powerful magnifying glass. To make
them by hand was a very laborious pro-
cess, and not less than 100000 was
spent in experiments before the machine
for producing them was successfully con-
structed. 1t turns them out with such
rapidity that they only cost 10 cents
apiece now"