Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1899-12-07
Artificial Teeth.

AuuNll Gus VI NuOucAuuo Va al ItAASAoA
teeth are manufactured and sold every
year. What becomes Of them ? 1t is
like asking what becomes Of pins and
other things which are practically in
destructible.
Before making guess it is worth
while to consider how artificial teeth
are made. The story is told in Nam
tucket of a sea captain who was great
whistler until he lost one of his front
teeth by accidental contact with be-
laying pin. For some time he be-
moaned his lost accomplishment, until
b. found that he could whistle very
well with an artificial tooth whitfield
out of piece of wood. When a per-
formance wa. desired, he would calm
ly carve out an incisor and put 1t IN
position. Then the audience would
wait until the tooth was swelled by
the moisture of his mouth so that it
would not slip out.
When plates were discovered and
the expert dentist was able to supply
a whole mouthful of teeth, the teeth
themselves were carved out of ivory.
But constant grinding would wear
away the ivory, and these elephant
teeth were not satisfactory.
Today all artificial teeth are made
Of porcelain, and will out last Me-
thuselah. Those which are known in
the trade as store teeth, being car
ried in stock by the big dental supply
houses, are manufactured in enormous
quantities.
The porcelain material, which con-
tans various mineral proportions, Is
worked up like a sort of dough or
plaster, forced into molds and fused by
intense heat In furnace. Each tooth
is covered with enamel and has one
or more metal pins in tho back to
hold it to the plate.
In large lots these teeth can be
made very chesply, but there Is one
item of expense that cannot be over
come, and that is the cost of metal
holding the pin. The only metal
which will stand the intense heat Of
the porcelain furnace is platinum,an
that costs at the rate of cent pin
simply for tn. raw material. A great
deal Of money ha, been spent in e1-
periments to discover some substitute
for platinum, but nothing has yet been
found
While cheap grade Of store teeth
can be bought for few cents apiece,
they are not nearly as satisfactory a.
the standard comm nercial article which
is used by most dentists. A big sup
ply company will carry hundreds OF
samples Of teeth, all of standard quail
tiles, bat differing greatly in size,shaPe
and color. In color alone from % to
100 variations may be presented.
But as there are people who are
not satisfied with ready made cloth
ing so there are people who are not
satisfied with ready made tseth. False
teeth may look just as well or better
than real ones, but public speakers,
singers and other prominent people
want their own teeth reproduced IN
all their peculisrities of form and COL
or and filings, if they have them
They want teeth that cannot be told
as false, and they get them, not at
once, perhaps, but one by one, as the
originals give out.
In teeth that are made TO order
nothing is impossible, from the short,
white teeth of normal youth to the
long, discolored ones Of extreme age,
and the prices range like those Of
watches.
The teeth are set in plates Of rubber,
gold and aluminium, but the highest
achievement is considered to be plat
mum plate, upon which has been fused
a lining of tinted porcelain, similar to
that used for gun work. Tinted plates
have been make Of the same material
as the teeth, but as the porcelain
sbrinks in the firing the fitting Of
such plates is uncertain.
And now for the answer TO the ques-
ton. What becomes Of false testh 2"
Sometimes they are lost, sometimes
stolen and sometimes left as family
legacy. Generally, however, they are
buried 9Th the owner and lie forever
hidden in the ground.
It Is occasionally suggested that
there is quite a business IN secondhand
false teeth, but if there is such traf-
fc it is not of large proportions. Sec
ondhand teeth are valuable only for
the platinum wire that they contain,
anJ u,han' they fall into the hands Of