The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-22
GOLD IN THE TEETH.
v GREAT DEAL or THE velLowMETA
USED IN THIS WAY.


Of Americas Citizens and other Millions
In the Cemeteries-G Used Yor Gid
Ing and Like Operations.
In all the discussions of the financial
question which have appeared in the news
papers the writer's speak about gold and
silver being used "as money or In the
arts -
ways supposed that Il meant mainly the
ass of gold and silver In table plate, or In
spoons for baby To gnaw, or silver backed
brushes for dear Henry to take with him
when he goes to college, But there IL an
ether use for gold which was forced upon
my attention during conversation the
other day with 7. j. Henry, one of the
manufacturers Of gold leaf and gold foil
who make their headquarters In the me-
tropolis and In Philadelphia.
"I cannot form very accurate idea of
the amount Of gold used in gold leaf and
gold foil In this country, said Mr.. Henry.
"but 1t Is big quantity. Probably dem
tist could give you better idea than
can. Gold foil is always used almost en-
tirely by dentists In filling teeth; gold
leaf is used In gliding. bookbindine and
operations Of that sort, besides the show
that Is made Of acres and acres Of gilded
signs spread before the public In one way
and another.
"The quantity of gold used in gold leaf
is at least twice as great as that used In
foil, In spite of the fact that the leaf Is 80
much thinner than the foil. A skilled
man can hammer out 90 ounces of gold
foil In a day, while it will take him week
to make two ounces of gold leaf, because It
Is so much thinner. This work has always
been done by hand, and probably always
will be. A single thickness Of gold foil
such as dentists use-to the ordinary OBJ
server that seems thin enough In all con.
science-wil make an entire book of gold
leaf"
"How much gold foil do the dentists
useS" inquired.
"well," replied Mr.. Henry. "I should
think that they use on an average about 80
cents worth of gold per cavity, az teeth
go. Some are bigger, some are smaller.
This bottle"-and no held up vial such
as dentists keep their gold foil in-"h holds
some 81 worth Of foil, and that would
make about eight filings of the average
size"
If the average cavity bored ont by the
industrious American dentist with such
extreme discomfort to the suffering patient
contains 80 cents worth of gold, how
much gold do all the million cavities so
constructed employ
1t Is question.
There are 40, 900, 900 people In the coun-
try. One of the oldest dentists in New
York tells me that at least 75 per cent of
the people in his vicinity employ dentists,
not only to extract teeth which have be-
come useless, but to fill cavities. Probably
the percentage would be considerably low
er, taking the country as a whole. Leav-
ing out of the reckoning the babies, who
have not yet made acquaintance with this
particular form of suffering, and people
who are too old to have any teeth at all, 1t
seems likely that there are $4,000, 900 or
| 80, 600, 600 people in the United States who
have enjoyed those sweet seasons OF COM
| munion with the man whose soft easy
chair and hard, uneasy boring Implements
are SO thoroughly appreciated.
Sixty per cent Of the people In New
York, Brooklyn and other large cities
have all, or nearly all, their filings Of
| gold. Practically all patrons of dentistry
have the filings in at least their 'front.'
teeth of this costly material You win
scarcely meet person upon the street who
has not from to 30 cavities filled with IL
There are people 80 barbarous and Of
such magnificent nerve that they have en-
tirely sound teeth bored out only that they
may have gold filings inserted for purely
ornamental purposes.
There are dentists In the big prisons
and have been for the last 30 or 30 years
At all the dental schools where young dem
lists are educated poor patients are received
whose teeth are filled free of charge to give
the young doctors chance to practice
their art
In one way and another 1t is probable
that something like 90, 900, 600 Of the great
American people are running around on
their usual business with 500, 600, 900
worth Of gold slowed away In 900, 000, 900
jagged little caves mined painfully In
their respective teeth with hooks and buzz.
saws and jiggers Of one sort and another,
worked by foot lathe and by hand-pound.
ed In with little trip hammers, rubbed of
with sandpaper and cleaning bright
through the stubble of unshaven lips and
chin or from parted lips Of smiling beauty.
There must be $4,000, 900 or 90 of tho
yellow metal buried In the teeth of those
who are gone where foroeps ooase from
troubling and the jumping tooth is at rest.
II any one wishes to make q fortune In
WY Aov uuu luV0nI sOIu0 InAU0Iioi IOr
hling teeth which shall be plastic, which
will harden quickly when used, which can
b tinted yellowish or blush, as the osse
may be, to match perfectly the tooth upon
which IL 10 employed, and which will be as
durable a. gold. No such material has
ever been invented.
There are various forms of amalgam,
gutta pcrcha and cement, which are used
extensively, but the amalgam turns black
almost as soon az IL 10 used, and white o.
ment and gutta percha, almost without ex-
ception, are Of only temporary usefulness.
For that matter. II any one could invent
some method Of making gold plastic, like
amalgam and gutta percha, he could be
sure OF living In Easy street for the rest Of
his days. One Of the great objections to
the use OF gold IL the pain caused to the
patient BY the slow and unpleasant process
OF Welding the gold into the cavity leaf
upon Leaf. York Cor st. Louis