Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-08-10
TONS or FALSE TEETH.


- Ueooen rosnoseFsung useecnioS rto'
cesssa
The man or woman who IL much
troubled over the necessity of having
an artificial tooth inserted" said a
popular dentist the other day, may
take consolation from the fact that
there are about 10000, 900 of such teeth
manufactured and sold annually In
the United States, allowing, on an av-
erage, one artificial tooth every fodr
years to each man, woman and child
In the country, including Indians, ne
groes and tramps.
manufacturer Of dental supplies In the
country, there are over 10000 ounces
Of pure gold worked up annually for
dentists use in material for filling
teeth, in plates and soldiers, the value
Of this gold approximating 100000
In addition there are about $4,000
ounces Of platinum used annually by
the various manufacturers of porce-
lain 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 number Of practitioners has stead
lily increased until now there are 90
422 dentists in the United States. Even
the little towns of Alaska have their
dentists, there being nine engaged in
pracice in the territory.
"As figures do not lie, the majority
of these men cannot have very much
to do, because 20,000O00 Of false teeth
and $1,OOO,OOO worth of gold filings,
etc., divided equally between 20,422
dentists allows only about 100 teeth
| and 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 $4,000 to $1,000
a year in the practice of their profess
| sion, it will readily be seen that good
many of the smaller ones must fall
| far below the annual average.
'The use of electricity has worked
wonders In dentistry. Until the dis
covery of the X-rays it was often nee
| essary to remove a tooth in order to
| learn the nature of some trouble at
| the root; but now the root and n por-
| ton of the jaw bone may be photo
| graphed by means of the Roentgen
| rays, the cause of the trouble located
and the tooth generally saved.
1.-THE average person, however, con-
| siders the discovery of what Is called
dental cataphoresis' to be of far
| greater importance to them personally,
because Of its unprecedented power to
deaden pain.
"Cataphoresis," continued the doe
| tor, "is the process of driving anaes-
| thetics into the bone tissue, or dentine,
! by means Of a gentle current of elec-
| tricity applied to the cavity itself.
| The method is rather interesting. The
| cavity Is first cleansed as thoroughly
as possible without causing discom-
/ fort to the patient, and is then closed
with a plug Of cotton just large
enough to fill it without undue pres
sure at any point. The electrode is
| placed in the moistened hand of the
patient who is required to grip 1t just
tight enough to secure good connec-
ton, the anaesthetic to be used is
drawn into the barrel of the syringe
| and injected into the cotton. The cur
rent Is then turned on and gradually
increased till the proper amount Is
reached. If complete insulation Is Sc
cured, the process is not accompanied
by sensation of any kind, and the sub
sequent drilling, which is necessary
in order to cleanse the cavity prior to
filling it, can be done with no appre-
ciable degree of pain. Without 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 n current Of cleo
| tricity in a way similar to that in
which an anaesthetic 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 rendered beauty
| fully white by this means In fact,
! electricity is now used by the up-to-
| date dentist for nearly everything con-
| nected with his work. 1t is used for
killing nerves; it propels the treadle
| for cutting and the mallet for filling;
| while light is supplied to the mouth
| lamp and heat to the hot air syringe
| by the same means.
1.-THE dentist of twenty-five-or even
| ten years ago, who has not kept
|. abreast Of the times, would hardly
| know what to make of the many i'm
provements in the modern practition-
| er's operating room. The sterilizer,
| for instance, into which every instru-
ment is placed after being used, is
now considered as necessary part of
the office furniture as the treadle or
the hydraulic chair The certainty
that every instrument put into the
mouth has been thoroughly sterilized
since being previously used, means
| great deal to sensitive patient.
Another special horror has been
done away with through the invention
of the dental speculum and the drain
age tube. The former protects the lips
| from abrasion, while the latter, when
placed under the tongue, takes up and