VE TER1NAR T DENTAL S URGER T. 225 



From my present knowledge and experience I 

 do not think it practical to attempt to fill other than 

 the incisors and the first three molars, as I have 

 found it impossible to get light and room sufficient 

 to operate back of that; in fact it is extremely diffi- 

 cult to fill the third molar. 



In writing this short chapter I have made use of 

 Taft's Operative Dentistry and The American Sys- 

 tem of Dentistry, which I would recommend to 

 the student who desires to make himself proficient 

 in this branch of dental surgery. 



As our knowledge increases we will see the 

 importance of this operation more, and I predict 

 that in a few years filling horses' teeth will be a 

 common practice. It is the only treatment we have 

 recourse to in caries. By it the disease is checked 

 and the lost part restored to usefulness as nearly as 

 possible by any foreign substance. 



If properly and skilfully performed the opera- 

 tion is successful in preserving teeth which would 

 soon have to be extracted. We cannot restore lost 

 parts as the human dental surgeon can, for various 

 reasons. The food is too hard. Take, for instance, 

 a molar, with say half of the crown gone. In the 

 human tooth it could be built up and stand the wear, 

 but in our subjects, in which the process of masti- 

 cation is carried on almost entirely by the lateral 

 motion, it would dislodge the filling in the first 

 place, and wear it out in the second. 



