Various

“ We know, moreover, that there are secured for those who will come after us, more substantial benefits of education, of practice, of public appreciation, such as none of us have been permitted to enjoy. This is the characteristic feature of the Dentists Act. Its noblest provisions are for posterity. No change, nor circumstance, can deprive any who have assisted in passing this Act, of the pure satisfaction of knowing that they have helped to hand on the profession of Dental Surgery in a far better condition than that in which they received it. ”

“ I feel certain from your presence here to-day that you have the interest of the Society at heart, but I venture to remind you that the simply feeling an interest in a thing is not sufficient in itself to command success. That is a result which requires, especially in these days, both energy and labour, and we must never forget that our future position and progress as a Society, will mainly depend on our own individual efforts, since we are each of us an individual unit, the aggregate of which units forms the Society itself. ”

“ If I am to benefit you to the full bent of my wishes, you must study nature in all its variety—nature when presented to you as destroyed by premature disease and death, to be restored by your hand to its original conformation. Remember that use must follow beauty, one cannot be dissevered from the other if you would obtain results, complete in power of mastication, speech, durability, and appearance. ”

“ The all important feature of recent progress is the British Dental Association. The Dental body has been afflicted with inherent weakness through the want of organisation, a weakness that paralyses, and at the same time, a weakness endowed with remarkable power, the power of successfully defeating efforts toward general reformation. So long as we were isolated and detached it is not wonderful that we were selfish and afraid of one another, but a new era has dawned. ”

“ The qualified surgeon who has devoted himself to the practice of dentistry, may be legally qualified to treat any and every kind of case, but would he be morally right in undertaking the treatment of a case, say of fever or of stone? ”

“ Till that time arrive, it will be in the interest of the Dental Surgeon to study with the utmost care the general principles and their application to his own speciality, and to acquire, while he can, a very full and perfect knowledge, practical, as well as scientific, of Dental Surgery, before he enters upon a detailed study of their application to any other branch or subject of Medicine or Surgery, the practice of which he does not propose to follow, and a trustworthy knowledge of which can not be retained or extended in the absence of continuous general practice. ”

“ If experience has taught us anything, it certainly has proved that it is the leak which does the mischief; and as in warfare no fortress is considered stronger than its weakest part, so is it with a tooth that is filled. A small leaking point will soon undermine the filling, and prove its ruin. ”

“ In conclusion, we think enough has been stated to show that transplantation or replantation of living teeth, or at all events, of teeth having living alveolo-dental membrane may be exceptionally carried out with benefit to the patient; if the chances of permanent success be not very great the chances of injury are, we believe, small, and have been greatly exaggerated. No such case has come under our observation, but then in all we have witnessed, the transplanted or replanted tooth has never been ligatured or otherwise forcibly retained in its alveolus. ”

“ None need be excluded from participation, save by their own poverty of professional spirit, a poverty exhibited alike by persistent recourse to unprofessional practice, and by selfish indifference to professional politics. There may be a kind of superiority in having a large practice, or in holding a high scientific position, but unless I am greatly mistaken the true superiority is that which overleaps all 506selfish considerations, and delights in consecrating whatever power or position we may have to the elevation and improvement of the whole profession. ”

“ An education equal in degree, but different in kind to that of the General Surgeon—an education which embraces a knowledge of the general principles of Medicine and Surgery, and a special, precise, and practical knowledge of Dental Surgery, was asked and given, the degree of education progressing as the attendant circumstances allowed, up to its present advanced condition. ”

“ Give hours to produce a natural expression. Propose to the patient a short walk in your operating room; if a good corridor is at your disposal, so much the better, use it. By so doing you will ascertain what, if any, old habit of contortion of features is indulged in by the patient; the character of the laugh, if the lips are raised, and how much; at times only the tips of the teeth are manifest, at others the full lip is raised exposing to view the crown of the tooth and the alveolus, even to the lower margin of the meatus of the nose. ”

“ The upper jaw bone is the most complex of all the bones of the face. Looking at its central part or body we are first of all struck with the cavity in it—the antrum of Highmore. Now, if you take a hundred bones, you will not be able to find two antra exactly alike, but they will differ in size, in shape, in depth, in width, and in size of their angles and inclination of each of their walls. And all these peculiarities influence the countenance, and must, therefore, be studied before you can hope to be successful in replacing the lost dental organs. ”

“ It does not admit of doubt that the high degree of manual skill, without which the professed dentist is but a shameless pretender, can be acquired best, perhaps can be fully acquired only during youth; that if the acquisition be put off till a medical education is completed, the golden opportunity will have been lost. ”

“ The mere mechanical calling of former times—for in its infancy Dentistry was little else—has now been developed into a profession and gained admission within the sacred portals of the College in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and it is for the present and future generations to prove by the exercise of their highest mental as well as mechanical faculties, that the profession is worthy of the position which has been accorded to it. ”

“ Of the value of anatomy as a discipline, there can be no doubt. In past years, it has served as the chief culture of the medical student—as the chief means by which the rough material coming up to our great medical schools were trained to habits of accuracy, of exactness, of patient careful observation ”

“ Michael Foster in an “Address in Physiology,” [1] of unsurpassed interest, contends without contradiction that no medical subject—now that the entrance upon medical studies is preceded by a tested preliminary education—need be studied as heretofore as a mere mental training, and proposes that topographical anatomy, which has hitherto been so studied, should, to a certain extent, give way in favour of a more complete knowledge of physiology. The address must, and no doubt will, be read by all interested in medical education, whether general or special. ”

“ With amalgams, as with the other plastic materials, a perfect filling of its kind has yet to be discovered, for a measure of uncertainty seems to exist in all of them; but as a proof that an amalgam may make a good useful filling, I can say that I have seen more than one apparently in a perfect condition after thirty years’ wear, and I cannot but think that much of the discredit attaching to its use, arises from its being the filling we naturally have recourse to in all cases of doubt and difficulty. ”

“ The nasal process, too, varies as much in different specimens; you will find differences in length, breadth, in the angle it forms with the body of the bone, and with the frontal bones; all these particulars modify the shape of the nose, and as I shall have to point out to you, no feature is more worthy of your careful study than the human nose in its numberless varieties. The malar process of this bone has similar varieties. Notice again the palate plate how it differs in breadth and arch, and so modifies importantly the roof of the mouth, to which a denture has been adapted. ”

“ It has been noticed by those who most frequently attend the meetings of our speciality, that papers on mechanical subjects are more easily procured, and often prove more attractive than those on surgical subjects, but this will no doubt become less as the educational facilities of the present day are brought to bear more and more on the whole body of the profession. Surely the preservation of the natural organs is of far more importance and value to the patient than the substitution of others, however efficiently supplied. ”

“ The general conformation of the Dental organs and the face must be your special study. The colour of the teeth to be selected must receive at your hands great care: compare the various tints at your disposal, ascertain if a perfect self colour, or a tinted, shaded, or stained tooth is the most pleasing; which will harmonise best with the complexion, producing a natural effect. It will be your object to disguise that the new introductions are foreign bodies, endeavour to make them appear as if they possessed life. ”

“ Fawcett tells us that the blind may acquire manual skill sufficient to secure independence, but that it can be gained only during youth. The adult blind, he says, have a greatly diminished power of learning.
The time may come when the principles of Medicine and Surgery will be taught before their special application to any particular class of disease, and their modification resulting therefrom is entered upon. ”

“ Gamgee, Watson, Williamson, Roscoe, Roberts, Morgan, Lund, Simpson, Ransome, and other able men, who are at present at the helm, can there be a doubt about the quality of the education given? and, in conclusion, is it too much to ask that before long we should have established in this city, and in connection with the Victoria University, a Dental School where we can send our sons to receive at the hands of these able men the necessary training to fit them for the practice of Dentistry. ”

“ The colour of the hair, the nature of the complexion will guide you in this endeavour; hair and complexion must harmonise. A heavy, wavy head of hair, dark and massive, with bronzed face would indicate a strong shaded tooth, solid in character and non-transparent, yet a colour that will reflect rather than absorb the rays of light. A Saxon face with fair hair will strongly puzzle you at times ”