i8 2 OSTEOPATHY 



resistance to the solvent action of the buccal fluids. The extensive use now made of the in- 

 lay methods and the improvements in tooth filling cements has had a marked effect in reduc- 

 ing the use of gold foil as a filling material, and while accurate figures are wanting, it is prob- 

 ably a safe conjecture that the average number of gold fillings done is to-day not over 50% 

 of the average number performed ten years ago. The change represents the elimination of a 

 large amount of operative discomfort both to the patient and to the dentist. 



The significant feature which marks the more recent advance in prosthetic dentistry is the 

 broader recognition of the fact that its ideal is not so much that of a mechanic art as it is that 

 of a restorative art related to vital activities. This feature is particularly noticeable in con- 

 nection with the construction of artificial tooth crowns and crown-and-bridge work. Abun- 

 dant evidence has accumulated to show that badly constructed mechanisms of this character 

 are a fruitful source of disease action in the living tissues with which they are related. Rec- 

 ognition of this fact has led to the more rational designing, construction and application of 

 these prosthetic appliances, so that the intelligent and skilled operator is now able to make 

 these restorations so that they are not only free from disease-producing defects, but com- 

 pletely and satisfactorily fulfil their purpose as restorers of impaired masticatory function. 

 A marked advance may also be noted in the artistic reproduction of lost dentures, a result 

 attained by the systematic study of the principles of physiognomy and the factors entering 

 into the harmonious balancing of the several expressional features of the countenance, of 

 which the dental apparatus constitutes a most important part. 



The importance of correct alignment and of normal occlusion of the teeth is not only gen- 

 erally recognised, but is claiming the attention of a large body of specialists who devote 

 their time and energies exclusively to that important department of dentistry. Apart 

 altogether from the question of unsightliness, investigation has shown that malposition and 

 malocclusion of the teeth interfere seriously with the efficiency of the masticating mechanism; 

 they interfere with bodily health by preventing oral cleanliness, by inducing mouth breath- 

 ing by preventing proper oxygenation of the blood, by causing nose and throat troubles, and 

 by inducing a variety of nervous and nutritive disorders. The demand is now justified that 

 malpositions of the teeth shall be corrected on hygienic grounds for the same, or even stronger, 

 reasons that apply to the correction of visual defects. 



Dentistry has altogether passed beyond the stage where it may be properly regarded as 

 an art of handicraft. The mouth and its contained organs and tissues not only present for 

 study and treatment a variety of disease conditions all of which are important in themselves 

 and not a few of which are a serious menace to health and even life itself, but, because of 

 their close nutritive, vascular and nervous relations with the rest of the body, frequently 

 contain the first indications of ill health and general disease and enable it to be diagnosed 

 in an unmistakable way. Because of these vital relationships the education of the modern 

 dentist includes the study of all the fundamental medical sciences that form the basis of the 

 science of healing, and the training now required of the student corresponds in plan to that 

 required of the medical specialist. (EDWARD C. KIRK.) 



OSTEOPATHY 



Note. The distinctive school and system of medicine to which this name has been given 

 has become so prominent in recent years that an authoritative statement of its principles 

 and claims appears desirable. This is contributed in the following article by a leading Ameri- 

 can osteopathist. ED. 



Osteopathy passed its thirty-eighth birthday in June 1912. It is the science of the 

 prevention and treatment of diseases of the human body, based upon the recognition 

 of the human body as a vital mechanism, a living machine, which, given wholesome 

 physical and mental environment, good food, proper exercise, pure air and pure water, 

 will be healthy, i.e. will function properly, so long as all the cells and parts of that 

 vital mechanism are in normal adjustment. Osteopathy teaches that structural 

 derangement of the body is the predisposing cause of disease. Faulty mechanism 

 causes functional perversion of the vascular and nervous systems, weakening the powers 

 of resistance of the body, producing congestion either general or local, thus making the 

 body subject to climatic changes, unhygienic and unsanitary surroundings, and a 

 hospitable medium for the invasion and propagation of germs. 



Dr. Still, the founder of osteopathy, says, " A disturbed artery marks the beginning 

 to an hour and minute when disease begins to sow its seeds of destruction in the human 

 body. The rule of the artery must be absolute, universal and unobstructed, or disease 

 will be the result." Osteopathy teaches that a cure is induced and effected by the 

 correction of these derangements, thus permitting a free exercise of the auto-protective 

 and recuperative powers of the mechanism itself. It recognises the mechanical, rather 



