The X-Ray in Dentistry

Excerpt from The X-Ray in Dentistry Devitalization was made easy by pressure anesthesia (a painless method of removing pulps) and the mistake became general largely through this. It was carried on for years because the evil results which followed it were never dreamed possible until the X-ray told its story. These results came from leaving portions of the pulp in root-canals, and from not filling canals to the end after the pulp was removed. The devitalization mistake was based on the belief that roots were properly filled, when in truth they were not. For there was no way of knowing whether roots were properly filled or not until the X-ray came into use; and it did not come into use until thousands of teeth had been devitalized and the roots imperfectly filled. Complete filling of root-canals was always considered necessary to save a devitalized tooth, and was the aim of every conscientious practitioner. As long as the tooth, or gum, did not show signs of subsequent trouble this aim was supposed to be accomplished. But when trouble ensued, and roots were occasionally found to be imperfectly filled, there was no idea that any harm could follow further than the loss of the tooth. For no one imagined in those days that systemic disease lurked in a dental abscess. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.