"Frail teeth can be saved better with tin than with gold. I never saw a devitalized pulp under a tin filling." (Dr. Dixon, Dental Cosmos, May, 1880.)
"Tin may be used as a base for proximate fillings in bicuspids or molars, in third molars, in children's permanent molars, in the temporary teeth, and in any cavity where the filling is not conspicuous." (Dr. A. W. Harlan, Independent Practitioner, 1884.)
"Tin in blocks, mats, and tapes is used like non-cohesive gold foil, but absence of cohesion prevents the pieces from keeping their place as well as the gold." ("American System of Dentistry," 1887.)
This is virtually saying that there is cohesion of non-cohesive gold, and that for this reason it keeps its place better than tin. It has always been supposed that there was no cohesion of layers of non-cohesive gold, and as the tin is used on the non-cohesive plan, therefore one keeps its place as well as the other. We claim that generally in starting a filling, tin will keep its place better than cohesive or non-cohesive gold, because it combines some of the cohesiveness of the former with the adaptability of the latter.
"Tin will save teeth in many cases as well or better than gold. Put a mat of tin at the cervical wall of proximate cavities in molars and bicuspids, and it makes a good filling which has a therapeutic effect on tooth-structure that prevents the recurrence of caries, probably because the infiltration of tin oxid into the tubuli is destructive to animal life. Where the filling is not exposed to mechanical force, there is no material under heavens which will preserve the teeth better." (Dr. Beach, Dental Cosmos, 1889.)
"I extracted a tooth in which I found a cavity of decay which had extended toward a tin filling, but stopped before reaching it; on examining the tooth-structure between the new cavity and the tin filling, it was found to be very hard, indicating apparently that there had been some action produced by the presence of the tin." (Dr. G. White, Dental Cosmos, 1889.)
"Pure tin in form of foil is used as a filling and also in connection with non-cohesive gold." (Mitchell's "Dental Chemistry," 1890.)
"Tin ranks next to gold as a filling-material." (Essig's "Dental Metallurgy," 1893.)
"Tin is good for children's teeth, when gold or amalgam is not indicated. It can be used in cavities which are so sensitive to thermal changes as to render the use of gold or amalgam unwise, but it can only be used in cavities with continuous walls, and should be introduced in the form of cylinders or ropes, with wedge-shaped pluggers having sharp deep serrations, thus depending upon the wedging or interdigitating process to hold the filling in the cavity." ("Operative Technics," Prof. T. E. Weeks, 1895.)
"Tin for filling teeth has been almost superseded by amalgam, although among the older practitioners (those who understand how to manipulate it) tin is considered one of the best, if not the very best metal known for preserving the teeth from caries. In consequence of its lack of the cohesive property, it is introduced and retained in a cavity upon the wedging principle, the last piece serving as a keystone or anchor to the whole filling. Each piece should fill a portion of the cavity from the bottom to the top, with sufficient tin protruding from the cavity to serve for thorough condensation of the surface, and the last piece inserted should have a retaining cavity to hold it firmly in place. The foil is prepared by folding a whole or half-sheet and twisting it into a rope, which is then cut into suitable lengths for the cavity to be filled." (Frank Abbott, "Dental Pathology and Practice," 1896.)