AN ART NOW

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1931, Page 13

AN ART NOW

THE;.. J>ENTJBi?S TASK-

toother excuse for postponing a visit to the dentist has been shattered, writes a contributor to tho London "Daily ; Telegraph." .No longer can we try ' 'and jpersnado ourselves tliat one or the reasons wo stay away Is a hope that if we wait a little longer revolutionary improvements in dental scienco will diminish our tribulation. ■ ' Dentists aro by nature an optimistic - race'—but not until I visited tho International Dental .Exhibition on its open- ■ ing -day "at the University of London did I realise what good grounds they *' ha,d for cheerfulness. I asked an export .at the show what new developments in mechanism were to be seen. "Very few," he said. "A stage so close to perfection'was reached a. year "or two ago that now wo concentrate largely upon improvements in the appearance of apparatus mid in small additional conveniences for the dentist." ' ' ' He told me that there was no rcubou why any extraction should bo felt by " k patient nowadays. It was possible to mako the whole jaw insensitive by anaesthetics, so that absolutely no pain is experienced. "This, means that, so far as the .' extraction of, teeth—tho patient's biggpsfc bogy—is concerned, the ideal has been reached," ho said. "The longer people stay awny the less soon will they realise what strides have been made, and the more .difficult will the dentist's- job bo when they eventually overcome their hesitation." ' Om© new development which has been functioned by tho National Health InBurance authorities is the _us<> of rußt-

less steel in dentures instead of. gold. This, Mr. Sugden, the organising secretary of tho exhibition, pointed out to me, meant' an improvement in tho strength, lightness, and prico of teeth. Gas apparatus- has been simplified, so that it is now possiblo for anaesthetists to give more attention to patients than was possible when their machinory was a constant source of anxiety to them. "Tho actual appearance of dentures has altered very little in tho last few years," said Mr. Sugden, "but great progress has been made in the matching of teeth." This might be realised by unyono who walked round the stands' and saw tho innumerable shades and shapea of teeth which arc displayed on endless rows of shelves. Various compositions of diffurbnt coloured rubbers, which uro alowly superseding vulcanite, arc also shown, as well as many blended colour schemes in modelling wax. There ura 14,006 registered dentibts in Great Britain; and mor'o than half of them are expected to visit tho exhibition. ' , ' ' '■ 1 could not help, feeling that many o£ those who,now1 falter.nervously on thoir dentist's doorstep should bo allowed to visit tho exhibition. If they djd they might reallso that Ibe "jagged hatchet" days of dentistry—: if. they ever existed—aro safely doa'd, and that most of the work in this branch, of surgery is every bit as delicate as a jeweller's. Even thoso. who still feol bitter about their dentists will fine one exhibit to pleaso them. It is a plate whichu Cnn be.htirlcfl. to thr floor and Irofldcn upon without so much as crocking. . '