442 TRUMAN W. BROPHY 



the improvements in the matter of materials and methods 

 used by the profession. The pioneers in dentistry did not have 

 access to large dental depots, in which they could secure almost 

 any instrument desired, or the modern artificial crowns and 

 teeth. In the earlier years human teeth, which had been ex- 

 tracted, were used, and then only the crowns which were at- 

 tached to teeth the crowns of which had been lost by decay 

 or accident. The method of making this attachment was 

 varied. In some cases wire was used, or ligatures combining 

 them to the roots. In other instances the roots were filled 

 with pieces of wood, through which could be driven wire which 

 had been previously attached. Animal teeth, such as those of 

 sheep and cattle, were used, as well as the tusks of the teeth 

 of the hippopotamus, and also crowns made from the ivory of 

 the elephant, and in some instances from pieces of bone. The 

 use of porcelain, or mineral teeth, was not introduced into 

 this country until 1817, and of course the first teeth were 

 very crude, but the value of porcelain was instantly recogniz- 

 ed and it was experimented with so much that improvement 

 in the quality of texture and color was very rapid. 



In making plates for artificial teeth, the first substances 

 used were ivory and bone. The work of carving an ivory base 

 plate properly for the jaw must have sorely taxed the skill of 

 early operators, and one can imagine that the wearing of such 

 a plate must have been a great source of annoyance to the 

 patient. 



The use of metals for base plates followed this, and must 

 have been a great relief to the profession, as well as to the pa- 

 tient. We find that gold, silver and platinum were all used. 

 Rubber and gutta-percha were not common until about the 

 middle of the nineteenth century. 



There has not been so much change in the materials used 

 for filling teeth as in the making of artificial teeth. We find 

 that metals were used in filling teeth almost since dentistry 

 was thought of. Lead was the first metal used, in the form of 

 a leaf, pieces of which were rolled between the fingers as a ball, 

 sufficiently large to more than fill the cavity. This ball would 

 be put in the cavity and crushed into place. 



Gold; lipwever, has always been one of the principal materi- 



