A badly impacted wisdom- 

 tooth. Radiograph shows 

 the need of cutting away 

 portion of jaw 



Light area shows extent 



of jaw-bone affected by 



pyorrhea, commonly called 



Rigg's disease 



The instrument has passed 



through the tooth into an 



abscess which was located 



by the radiograph 



What X-Rays Can Do for Your Teeth 



THE purchasing agent of a large 

 corporation took a night train 

 ' from BufTalo for Pittsburgh. It 

 was cold and the next morning his face 

 was fairly alive with pain. He concluded 

 that neuralgia had singled him out as 

 a victim. Consultation with a physician 

 resulted in about the same opinion. 

 And every time he got cold his face 

 twitched with pain. In the course of 

 time this man visited his dentist. The 

 dentist had just installed an X-Ray 

 outfit. Merely as an experiment a radio- 

 graph was made of the man's jaw. The 

 tiny film when developed showed that 

 a tooth was improperly filled. A small 

 portion of the root canal at the extreme 

 end of the tooth had not been cleaned 

 out. Whenever the purchasing agent's 

 temperature rose from a cold or other 

 ailment, his blood pressure, of course, 

 rose also. And when the blood pressure 

 rose, the tiny blood vessels which 

 nourished the tooth swelled and the 

 swelling pressed against the sensi- 

 tive tooth. The result was a pain 

 of a twitching sort which almcist 



anybody at first might call neuralgia. 



There is absolutely no pain connected 

 with the taking of a radiograph in 

 dentistry. The operator simply places 

 a small piece of film in the patient's 

 mouth which the latter holds in position 

 with his thumb. The patient then 

 closes his eyes and holds his breath for 

 a few seconds and it is all over so far as 

 he is concerned. The dentist can develop 

 his film in a very few minutes. He is 

 able to draw his conclusions while the 

 film is still wet because the signs which 

 mean so much to him are as plain on a nega- 

 tive as they would be on a finished print. 



The X-Ray outfit can be used to 

 detect any number of defects in a 

 filling. It can also be used as a check 

 on another dentist's work. Further- 

 more, it enables the dentist himself to 

 give the patient information of an abso- 

 lutely accurate character on the condition 

 of the teeth. For instance, a radiograph 

 would show the dentist and the patient 

 whether it wasnccessaryornol to pull the 

 tooth instead of treating it, with the ulti- 

 mate intention of i)r()longing its existence. 



Radiograph which was Showinf cnmlition of jaw- 

 taken to locate an eye- bom iii ilu extraction 

 tooth which had not grown ofjm i ■ ..Iroot. Dark 

 out due to crowding in ild fillings 



Here the X Rays show an 



abscessed area indicated 



by the light spot at the 



end of the tooth 



•vdO 



