Various

“ To be fully entitled to the name of Scientific, we must know something of the laws of life, in order that we may obey them and fight life's battles manfully—doing justice to others and with credit to ourselves. Life, in itself, is not creatable, but given to us with power to properly use or abuse, the end being the creation of the finite mind. ”

“ But before dismissing the subject of pulpless teeth, it may be well for us to examine the subject a little more carefully from the standpoint of the medical writers above referred to. We cannot afford to make a mistake with regard to so important a matter. The higher a man stands in his profession, the more serious the mistakes he makes, and the more important it is that his practice be sound. An enthusiast or an extremist may injure a good cause. There are such men in our ranks.
A few years ago a prominent dentist said, "The tooth's pulp is its soul, and it is criminal to destroy it." ”

“ In regard to the query as to "whether it is safe practice to retain dead teeth in the jaws," I would say that thousands of people in our own country have had pulpless (not dead) teeth in their jaws many years, which are exempt from pericemental disease, and which serve all the purposes for which teeth were provided. To ask whether it is safe practice to retain these, so-called, dead teeth in the jaws when they have been comfortable and useful from ten to forty years and promise to remain so through life, seems like a proposition too injudicious to need comment. ”

“ Sherwood, of New York, by ingenious experiments, demonstrated the fact that the brain has four large poles, two in the cerebrum and two in the cerebellum, and from these proceed not only the convolutions, but every nerve in the body. By these, and experiments in animal magnetism, he maintained that animal magnetism is the motive power of the human system, and without it there can be no connection between mind and matter. ”

“ A gold filling properly impacted, with cavity judiciously prepared, and the walls shaped as to forbid future decay, will save, irrespective of the frailty of their bony structure? But as thousands of teeth cannot be so prepared, both of strong and of frail organizations, and the circumstances cannot be controlled, we should resort to something that will enable us the more surely to meet the issue. ”

“ Science demands a full and free investigation of all or any causative principle by which life is manifested, or death produced. So long as we draw our conclusions only from appearances, we shall often be deceived in a correct diagnosis; consequently often fail to cure diseases that come within the legitimate bounds of our specialty. ”

“ In passing from a conscious to an unconscious state, all the Clairvoyants I have questioned on the subject say it is affected by a change of polarity of the sensatory organs, and the principle is the same whether caused by animal magnetism, syncopy or anæsthetic agents, and if only the voluntary organs are affected thereby, there is no danger to life, but if polarity in the involuntary is reversed, the heart ceases to beat and death is instantly the result. I was the first in this city to administer ether for the purpose of extracting teeth without pain. ”

“ The remedy of course is to remove the cause, and assist nature in affecting a cure, and to do this the pulp chamber must be opened, its contents removed, the canals cleansed and disinfected, the abscess healed, and the roots filled to the exclusion of all fluids and purulent matter. But how often this is not done. How many thousands of suffering mortals are to-day dragging out miserable lives because of these drainage tubes emptying themselves into the oral cavity—into the maxillary sinus or into the meatus of the nose. ”

“ We will occasionally meet with an enthusiast in our profession who will say, "I have no use for forceps, I never extract teeth." I have heard that statement made on the floor of the Iowa State Dental Association.
That incurable diseased teeth should not be tolerated in the jaws does not admit of discussion. Good common sense ought to settle that question. And again, there are extremists who never devitalize diseased pulps, no matter how badly exposed, but "doctor them up," and stupify them, and then bury them in a living grave. Much evil has grown out of this practice. ”

“ Again, we all have a full consciousness of three things—we love, we think, we act. But few have a scientific knowledge of the means employed by which mind acts on matter. There are such varied forms and circumstances controlling its development, that we need not marvel at anything that comes within the sphere of our observation. ”

“ Any one with half an eye can see just where the incompatibility is; not between gold and dentos, but between dentos and untutored and unskilled brain and hands to carry out the law of adaptibility—the correlation of forces involved. ”

“ All pain is the result of an obstruction of a normal flow of the magnetic current, whether caused by disease or otherwise.
Arsenic, applied to the nerve of a tooth, destroys its polarity, and applied to any other nerve it is no longer capable of being actuated by the magnetic current, without which there can be no sensation, and death is the result. Physical endurance depends largely on the mind and the state of the nervous system. The difference in individuals to bear pain is marvelous ”

“ The grand distinction between mind and matter may be seen thus: If we give any physical object to another, we part with it, but if we give a new idea on any subject, we do not part with it, but in so doing its boundaries are enlarged in our minds. ”

“ The involuntary organs do not sleep until death ends our earth life. We can readily understand that if by any cause polarity in the two large poles in the cerebrum are reversed, the gateway by which we gain a knowledge of things about us is closed so perfectly that physical sensation is impossible. ”

“ Hydrogen peroxide acts first chemically and then mechanically. When the decomposition takes place the oxygen is set free and escapes from a liquid to a gaseous form; this expansion of the gas distends the pus cavity, and as it escapes from the orifice, it carries much of the pus with it, and its application should be repeated till all purulent accumulations are evacuated. The liberated oxygen, being in a nascent or active condition, rapidly oxidizes the products of suppuration, and destroys many of the micro organisms of suppuration. ”

“ Some one has said that to cap a badly exposed pulp is to create a slumbering volcano, and he might well have added that such volcanoes have but a limited time to slumber. Gentlemen, there are in our own country ten thousand volcanoes belching forth—not pure molten lava—but impure gases and putrescent matter of the most sickening character. ”

“ The first step towards the preparation of the mouth [Pg 270] for dental operations is the removal of calculus and decayed fangs. Let this be done in a manner that will insure future cleanliness, where the proper after attention is given on the part of the patient.
As regards the preparation and filling of cavities, there are so many conflicting conditions, that we must be governed entirely by the case before us; but to be thorough in our preparation, we must so shape the cavity as to have the walls nearly plumb, uniform margin, slightly undercut. ”

“ Consequently, we should remove all surplus material, and finish at the very margin of the cavity. When gold is used, this precaution is not so necessary, as the edges of a gold filling will not fracture. Since we do not have to mallet amalgam, it is natural to suppose we don't require firm margins, but this is a mistake; and as much, or even more care should be exercised in the preparation of a cavity for amalgam than gold, as tooth-structure seems to waste away more rapidly from the former. ”

“ The pain resulting from advanced caries of the deciduous teeth, owing to the difficulties encountered in controlling the patient, is not easily treated; moreover, the injurious impressions thus made on the system of the child abide through life. There is no doubt hundreds of thousands of teeth are unnecessarily extracted each year, and then drugs are given with a view of curing the patient of the disorders of digestion and other abnormal conditions which follow, and which in turn arise from imperfect mastication of food, verily for the want of teeth. ”

“ Magnetism acts on the nerves, then on the muscles, and man moves in any direction he chooses. A dentist with a strong will, if he uses the proper means, [Pg 252] can more easily and favorably impress his nervous patient than one with a weak will, and the reason is, he imparts more of his animal magnetism, which has a stimulating effect on the nerves of his patient. There is a magnetic sphere emanating from both man and beast, particularly when in motion. ”

“ As the brain is the seat of all sensation, I briefly present some of the best authenticated views of its organization. I think you all will agree with me that it is wonderfully constructed by Infinite Wisdom for the development of the finite mind. ”

“ That diseased teeth do cause reflex trouble, not only in the head, but frequently in more remote parts of the body, is a fact well-known to every competent dentist. I am glad that Dr. Sexton has at last discovered the fact, that diseased teeth do frequently cause reflex pain in the ears, and in other neighboring parts, and that alveolar abscesses very often cause catarrhal affections of the maxillary sinus and of the nasal passages, and that diseased teeth will endanger the general health. ”

“ According to my knowledge of the proceedings of the organizations known as the "National Board of Dental Examiners," and the "National Association of Dental Faculties," it was determined that no dental school would be regarded as reputable that did not after June, 1885, require TWO FULL SESSIONS OF FIVE MONTHS EACH IN SEPARATE YEARS FOR GRADUATION. The only exceptions made being those who after graduation in medicine had passed one year in the study and practice of clinical dentistry, and also those who had attended a previous session at a reputable dental school. ”

“ To attribute the obvious increase of nervous diseases during the present [Pg 262] generation to diseases of the teeth is a statement not only "sweeping," but "overdrawn." Much harm is no doubt done by some of the modern appliances "for retention in the mouth of substitutes for absent teeth," and the unhealthy state of the gums and contiguous parts, established and maintained by the presence of these substitutes, unquestionably give rise in many cases to reflected pain. ”

“ The dead tooth may be easily distinguished from the living ones by its opaque appearance. Such tooth may be carious, and it may not.
Primarily the dentritic cyst originates from what pathologists call a "cold abscess," that is, an abscess which has never opened; subsequently, having developed into a tumor. The interior of the cyst has a fibrous lining, and being compact in structure, is the seat of an inflammatory process. The cyst contains a pyriform fluid; it may attain such magnitude as to invest several teeth and extend beyond the alveolar process. ”

“ Wedges of wood are well adapted to cases where the sides of teeth to be wedged are nearly parallel, or where there is less space at the gum than at the points of the teeth. The wedge should be about as wide as the length of the crown, that is, it should extend from the cutting edge to the gum, nearly. It should be so shaped and trimmed as to not irritate the tongue or cheek. One advantage of the wooden wedge is that it is more cleanly than tape, cotton, or silk. ”

“ Other teeth whose pulps are living may be loose, and to a casual observer appear to be complicated, but a careful examination will reveal the fact that they should not be disturbed but retained in their places; only one tooth may be the offender, being a dead one which has caused the trouble. After the removal of the cause, let it be either one or more dead teeth or fangs of teeth, cyst walls may be punctured with a sharp instrument, and the contents of the sac released, this being done by carrying the instrument through the alveoli, and not through the bony parietes of the jaw. ”

“ The great advantage of meeting in council is an increase in knowledge on all subjects in any way relating to our profession. We have many things yet to learn that will be, when known, of great benefit to both ourselves and the public. ”

“ There is a fitness in every material that experience has proven to be specially adapted for a given work, and when this general law is recognized and we become first-class engineers, we shall the better see where we can adapt our materials to the work to be done, and we can be the more certain of success, for it is founded on the logic of mechanics and physical law. ”

“ It is sometimes well to open the cavity slightly with an excavator or chisel before wedging, so that the cotton will be more readily retained. For bicuspids and molars more than one application may be needed if much space is required. Quick wedging is sometimes possible, and when it can be done readily is usually desirable. Teeth that move easily may be separated sufficiently for operations by placing a wedge at the point of contact, and another near the gum, applying force gently with the hand, or light blows with a mallet, first on one, and then on the other, until wedged enough. ”

“ Chloroform is more easily administered than ether or gas, and most convenient when the patient cannot come to the office; but we should remember that many deaths have occurred when given for the purpose of extracting teeth, and that, too, when least expected. The public mind is more horrified at one death in the dentist's office than twenty caused by a railroad smash-up. ”

“ The retention in the jaws of teeth which are diseased, have become irredeemably sensitive to thermal influences, or deprived of adequate periosteal nourishment through calcareous formations about the roots, very frequently gives rise to nervous diseases about the head. I am convinced that these reflected nerve influences manifest themselves much oftener since dentistry has come more extensively into practice during the present generation, and greater efforts are made to retain defective teeth in the jaw. ”