Discoloration of Dentine. [Volume: 2, Issue: 12, July, 1861, pp. 662-663]

662

THE DENTAL COSMOS.

DISCOLORATION OF DENTINE.
BY C. WOODNUTT, D.D.S.
IN answer to T. B. Welch, I will give you a method of restoring a
tooth, in the condition he speaks of, to its natural color, which I have
used with tolerable success. Clean out the cavity well with excavators,
without taking away more of the dentine than is necessary-for a dead
tooth is brittle, and you want as much of it as you can retain to add to
its strength. After this has been done, I saturate a pledget of cotton
with liquid chloride of soda (Labarraque's solution) and place it in the
cavity, pressing it in contact with all parts of it, if possible. Your object will be attained much more rapidly, if the cavity is then sealed up
with wax, or some other material, to prevent the dilution of the chloride
by the fluids of the mouth. The application should be renewed every
day until the tooth is bleached as white as you want it.
It sometimes takes two weeks to restore the color, in a bad case, but I
think the above treatment will eventually succeed if persevered in. The
solution certainly contains capital bleaching and disinfecting properties.
POTTSVILLE, PA., June, 1861.
With reference to bleaching teeth, as recommended above by Dr.
Woodnutt, we would say that if "persevered in," it will destroy the
tooth. If it be used at all, it must be for a very limited time, and not
very strong. The experiment of placing a tooth in Labarraque's solution
for forty-eight hours will solve the problem. J. D. W.
DECOLORATION OF DENTINE.
BY W. H. ATKINSON, D.D.S.
THE following is sent in reply to a request for information on this
subject by T. B. Welch:Open into nerve canal through lingual depression, and clean out all
retained matters to the apex of fang. If the tooth is not tender, proceed
to enlarge the canal with watchmaker's brooch set in a handle until cylindrical to the point; excavate all that you may and retain strong walls to
the cavity of crown, opening every tubule to facilitate introduction of
bleacher. Then take accurate measure of the depth of canal and pass in
a truncated burr or rose-head drill, or brooch, a size or two larger than
the one previously used, to within - or 1 inch of the apex, thus leaving a
shoulder against which to pack. Then pass a pledget of cotton or flax,
wet with pure creosote, into the part of the canal between this shoulder
and the point, (if the cotton should project a very little beyond the apex
no matter,) and proceed to fill imperviously half the remaining part of
fang-canal with gold, thus securing against the possibility of escape of