IMPROVEMENTS IN DENTISTRY, THE SAME CONSISTING IN A MEANS OF DISGUISING THE BRIGHT COLOR OF GOLD FILLING FOR TEETH, WHEREBY SAID FILLING IS ALSO RENDERED MORE DURABLE, AND ALSO OF AN IMPROVED METALLIC FOIL FOR DENTAL PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Edward Blake, of San Francisco, Cali-
fornia, in the United States of America, Dentist, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DENTISTRY, THE SAME CONSISTING IN A MEANS OF
DISGUISING THE BRIGHT COLOR OF GOLD FILLING FOR TEETH, WHEREBY SAID
FILLING IS ALSO RENDERED MORE DURABLE, AND ALSO OF AN IMPROVED
METALLIC FOIL FOR DENTAL PURPOSES."
Sealed the 3rd March 1874, and dated the 7th January 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Edward Blake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 7th January 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: OF GOLD FILLING FOR TEETH, WHEREBY SAID FILLING IS ALSO RENDERED MORE
DURABLE, AND ALSO OF AN IMPROVED METALLIC FOIL FOR DENTAL PURPOSES,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that I really believe myself to be
the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Edward Blake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, that is to say:-
:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the material or metallic
foils which are used in dentistry for restoring and filling decayed teeth,
and teeth which have been worn down by grinding or attrition.
Numerous substances and compounds have been employed and are
still in use for filling decayed teeth, but it is an acknowledged fact
amongst the dental profession that pure gold, owing to its quality of
being easily condensed and solidified by pressure or percussion, and its
unoxidizable and unchangeable nature is superior to any other metal or
substance for this purpose. Pure gold, however, owing to its soft
character, soon wears away, and to alloy it with other metals in order to a
give it the desired degree of hardness will generally impair its adhesive
properties so that it cannot be properly used as a filling, and besides this,
its bright lustre or brilliancy causes a disagreeable glitter in the mouth
which it is important to destroy.
My Invention consists in combining with the gold the metal platinum 2
either as an alloy or as a mechanical component.
Platinum is the only metal that compares with gold in purity, and
although not possessing the quality of cold adhesion by percussion
when two sheets or foils of platinum are compressed together, yet when
sheets of gold and platinum are alternately used and condensed by 3
pressure or concussion a perfect cold welding or adhesion results. In
filling or restoring teeth, therefore, I use alternate layers of gold and
platinum foil so that the adhesion will be perfect, and a hard and
durable filling is obtained.
In finishing the filling of the teeth a layer of platinum should be a
omplexed
ለ that the bright color of the cold will ha annealed

page_text: and the building up or the restoration of the edges of cutting teeth
where the enamel is worn down.
My improvements also include the galvanizing or electro-plating of
platinum sheets or foil, so that they can be used like ordinary gold foil
for filling. To do this, I cover the platinum foil upon either one or both
sides with a coating of pure gold. This can be done by the electro-
plating process, or in any other convenient or suitable manner. When
thus prepared, platinum foil can be used for filling and restoring decayed
teeth in the same manner that gold leaf or foil is now used, and at the
same time it will provide the required durability.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. A filling for teeth consisting of the usual base covered with a
stratum of platinum or other metal approximating to the color of the
enamel of the teeth as set forth.
Second. The chemical admixture or alloy of platinum and gold for
the purpose of providing an improved dental gold, substantially as above
specified.
Third. As a new article of manufacture, platinum foil or leaf coated
with gold either upon one or both sides, substantially as and for the
purpose above described.
In witness whereof I, the said Charles Edward Blake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord, A.D. One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three.
Witnesses,
GEO. H. STRONG.
C. M. RICHARDSON.
CHARLES EDWARD BLAKE. (L.S.).