The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-09
MILLIONS OF ARTIFICIAL TEETH.
The Number Manufactured and Sold
Annually in the United States.

The Number Manufactured and Sold |
Annually in the United states.
New York, July THE man or woman |
who is much troubled over the necessity |
of having an artificial tooth inserted" |
said popular dentist the other day, may |
take consolation from the fact that there
are about twenty millions of such teeth !
manufactured and sold annually in the
United States, allowing on an average |
one artificial tooth every four years TO
each man, woman and child in the coun- |
try, including Indians, negroes and tramps !
"On the authority of the greatest man |
ufactuTer of dental supplies in the coun-
try, there are over 10000 ounces of pure
gold worked up annually for dentists use
in material for filling teeth, in plates ana
soldiers the value of this gold approx
mating 100000 In addition there are
about 5000 ounces of platinum used an
nually by the various manufacturers of
porcelain teeth to say nothing of the
large amount of silver amalgum prepared
for inconspicuous filings, such as those
in the back teeth.
There is no other profession which has
made greater strides during the last few
years than has dentistry, and the num-
Der of practitioners has steadily increased
until now there are 20, 422 dentists in the
United States. Even the little towns of
nine engaged in practice in the territory.
LAS figures do not lie, the majority of
these men cannot have very much to do,
because 20000,000 of false teeth and 81 900
900 worth of gold for filings, etc, divided
equally between 90 422 dentists allows only
about 100 teeth and a little less than $40
worth of gold per annum to each dentist.
As the popular practitioners in large cities
use many times these amounts, many of
them earning from $500 to $4,000 a year
in the practice of their profession, il viii
readily be seen that a good many of the
smaller ones must fall far below the an
nual average.
THE use of electricity has worked won
ders in dentistry. Until the discovery of
the X-rays it was often necessary to re-
move tooth in order TO learn the nature
Of some trouble at the root; but now the
root and portion of the jawbone may be
Photographed by means of the Roentgen
rays, the cause of the trouble located and
the tooth generally saved.
The average person, however consid-
ers the discovery of what is called dental
cataphoresis' to be of far greater import
ance to them personally, because of its
unprecedented power to deaden pain
"Cataphoresis," continued the doctor. SIS
| the process of driving anaesthetics into
the bone tissue, or dentine, by means Of
a gentle current of electricity applied to
the cavity itself. The method is rather
interesting. The cavity is first cleansed
as thoroughly as possible without caus-
ing discomfort TO-. the patient, and is then
closed with a plug of cotton just large
enough to fill it without undue pressure
at any point. The electrode is placed in
the moistened hand of the patient who
is required to grip it just tight enough to
secure good connection, the anaesthetic to
be used is drawn into the barrel of the
syringe and injected into the cotton. The
current is then turned on and gradually
increased till the proper amount is reach
ed. If complete insulation is secured the
process is not accompanied by sensation
of any kind, and the subsequent drilling
which is necessary in order to cleanse
the cavity prior to filling it can be done
with no appreciate degree of pain. With
out the aid of cataphoresis, however, there
is no such thing as good workmanship in
painless dentistry.
But the new 'cataphoric bleaching is
even more appreciated by women The
bleaching fluid is driven into the tooth
! by means of a current of electricity in
way similar to that in which an anaes-
thetic is driven into sensitive dentine
Even a tooth that has become very much
discOlored as a result of the improper
treatment of a dead nerve may be rem
dered beautifully white by this means.
In fact, electricity is now used by the
| up-tO-date dentist for nearly everything
| connected with his work 1t is used for
killing nerves; 1t propels the treadle for
cutting and the mallet for filing; while
| light is supplied to the mouth lamp and
heat to the hot air syringe by the same
means.
The dentist of twenty-five-or even ten
years ago, who had not kept breast of the
times would hardly know what to make
of the many Improvements in the modern
practitioners operating room. The ster-
| ilizer, for instance, into which every in
| strument is placed after being used is
now considered Is necessary a part of the
| office furniture as the treadle or the Inv
| draulic chair The certainty that every
| instrument put into the month has been
thoroughly sterilized since being previous
| ly used means great deal to a sensitive
| patient.
Another special horror has been done
away with through the invention of the
dental speculum and the drainage tube
The former protects the lips from abra
sion, whl.e the latter, when placed under
| the tongue, takes up and carries AWAY the
| Troublesome drool, which under the old
! fashioned system of dentistry was The
cause Of such aversion to fastidious mon
and women.
If dentistry improves proportionatelv
| during the next fifty years as it has dur-
| ing the last decade, by the middle Of tba
| twentieth century women will look upon a
visit to the dentist with no greater dread
than is now inspired by the prospect of
a shopping tour 1t is probable. too. that
artificial teeth win become more and more
| natural every year. Even now the blue
ism white teeth so common a few years
| ago are seldom seen, and the porcelain
| filings which are daily growing in popu
larity are so identical in tint and appear