Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-23

was organized. and the first dental col
lege in the world established. rms
college was located in Baltimore, ana TO
| this day is turning out it's full quota
of graduate dentists.
The present tendency of dental prac-
| tice is rather to prevent the necessity
| for it than to resort to it. There is a
movement on foot to have all schools
teach children the proper care OF the
| teeth. In New York two young dentists
arranged to give free treatment 10
needy school children at certain hours
in the day, and their work is spread
| ing rapidly. Their main effort is TO
teach the little patients the Importance
of proper care of the teeth. There is
an effort on foot to have regular dental
surgeons in the army on the same foot
| ing with the medical doctors. This eff
fort has borne some fruit in the APP
pointment of contract surgeons
Perhaps the most recent stride in
dental practice is the gold inlay work.
The gold filling was at first sort of
stopper put in without any reference
| to preserving the contour of the tooth
and adjusted by main strength and
awkwardness rather than with any
scientific skill. In 1855 a Baltimore
dentist-Baltimore has always led in
all dental matters-discovered the CO.
hesiVe qualities of gold leaf This dis
covery led to the reign of the mallet
and punch. But more recently it has
been found that the gold filling can be
prepared by taking wax impression
of the cavity to be filed and making
filling to fit that. A very durable
cement has been found which binds it
firmly in place. so that the era of
painless" dentistry has practically ar
rived. This new mode of filling has
several advantages 1t is more readily
put in. gives less pain to the patient
and it can be placed in teeth that
would be too fragile to stand the mall
let method.
Another very important step in den
tai practice is the use of the X-ray in
photographing the mouth. OF course
the apparatus is expensive and few
dentists yet have it, but the person
suffering with hitherto undiscoverable
troubles in the jaw bone can have them
made plain by the use of the Xray
photographs. Some of these reveal
that teeth that have never come
through are down in their sockets
making all sorts of unbearable pres
sure on the other teeth, and in many
other ways interfering with the health
and the comfort of the patients mouth.
The filing of teeth is no new thing.
Herodotus gives the first glimpse of
the dental profession about 800 years
before the Christian era. But the be-
ginning dates even beyond that. By
examining Egyptian mummies the
dentist of today can look upon the
work of his prototype of forty centu-
res before. Although the formula that
preserved their bodies has been lost
art for many generations the science
that preserved their teeth has been re-
tanned Lead was the filling agent in
those times. Greece and Rome used
gold filings in teeth, as is shown by
a provision of the great Twelve Laws
which sets forth that ''if any ones
teeth have been banded together with
gold it shall not be unlawful to bury
him with it." 1t would seem from the
expression "banded together" that
even bridge work was used in those
days.
After the discovery of the cohesive
property of gold leaf in 1855. it became
necessary to find some method of pre-
venting any moisture from reaching
the tooth, as the slightest moisture de-
stroys the cohesive power of gold leaf.
All sorts of things were tried-bibu-