DO YOU DREAD THE DENTIST'S CHAIR?

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 7 (Supplement)

DO YOU DREAD THE DENTIST'S CHAIR?

REWARDS OF RESEARCH ANAESTHETICS IN USE H. JjEFORE anaesthetics such crude " dope " as oil of cloves was used to deaden pain, and then gas came to ; rob extraction of its terrors. It is now administered in combination with oxygen, and as it is inhaled through the nose,,'the patient is relieved of any feeling of suffocation. If the dentist has to go deep when filling, he now has his« choice of several new

X-ray has been brought in to aid in making difficult diagnoses. It reveals a buried root, and the exact position of an impacted wisdom tooth (the latter often requires a protracted dental operation under a general anaesthetic.) Operations to extract impacted wisdom teeth are now considerably simplified b.y a marvel of mechanical ingenuity—an electrically operated chisel rather like a tiny pneumatic pick. Filling materials have been improved out of all knowledge. There are translucent cement fillings now which can be matched exactly to the colour of the teeth. Advances in the technique of adapting small plates to the mouth have enabled unsatisfactory and unhygienic bridgework to be supplanted, and post-operative pain is treated with ultra-violet rays. Straightening irregular teeth, and giving a regular line to uneven teeth is also now a common operation, much in demand in the film studios. Young jaws that are too small and narrow to contain the teeth in proper alignment can be expanded, and even a receding chin can be brought forward to produce not oniy a pleasant profilo, but more efficient powers of mastication, and better breathing. The search for tho key to the riddle of pyorrhoea goes on as unceasingly as the search for the key to the riddle of cancer. Diet to build up teeth is a new field of exploration, and one of the most notable developments is the prenatal feeding of mothers, in addition to the correct dietary prescribed for children, with a view to strengthening tho structure and improving the development of tho young teeth and jaws. Meantime, research workers toil on, unresting and unsatisfied, despite tho great progress made. After the fight to kill pain comes tho even more difficult battle with germs, and with the riddlo of teeth themselves, and why_ they decay, and how it is that their sickness affects'other, apparently, quite separate parts of the human machine. However proud he is of his advanced methods and efficient technique, the modern dentist recognises that he is still in the primitive stage of dentistry— ho remains a specialist treating symptoms which nobody completely understands, and decay which he cannot always explain. But he is on the highway of the future—the forerunner of the dentists who one day will be preventing, not merely treating, decay* and giving us teeth that will last with a minimum of .repair all tho days of our live«.

anaesthetics, injected by means of a hypodermic, to make a " dead spot," and novocaine is tho drug commonly ased. For difficult extractions and larger dental operations tho modern dentist uses evipan, tho newest of anaesthetics. Injected into a vein, evipan produces "within fifteen seconds a deep slumber, ®nd there is practically no after-effect.