Fauchard then describes the instruments proper for detaching the tartar;[446] he speaks of the method to be followed in cleaning the teeth in order to not endanger the enamel;[447] he speaks of the different kinds of dental files, of their different uses in relation to the various cases and indications; of the precautions to be taken in making use of them;[448] of the instruments to be used for scraping and cleaning the carious cavities and of the mode of employing them.[449]
All of the above-named instruments are illustrated by figures, in contemplating which one cannot but reflect on the inferiority of the instruments then in use as compared with those of the present day. The greater admiration is therefore due to Fauchard’s talent, which, in spite of such imperfect and at times absolutely primitive means, enabled him to obtain the brilliant results cited in his observations.
Instruments for detaching dental tartar (Fauchard).
Chapter VI is dedicated to the stopping of decayed teeth. The sole materials used by the author for stopping were lead, tin, and gold. “Fine tin,” he says, “is preferable to lead, for lead turns black much more easily and is much less durable; both are preferable to gold, because lighter and adapting themselves better to the unevenness of the carious cavities. Besides, gold being dear, not everyone can or will make the corresponding outlay.” The author here adds that those who, from vanity or because possessed by the opinion that gold has special virtues, will not have their tooth stopped except with it, not unfrequently find dentists who, as the saying, goes, content them and cozen them by using leaf tin or lead colored yellow, and making them pay for it as gold stopping!
Some of the dental files used by Fauchard. The little square figure represents a small grooved wedge destined to be inserted in large interdental spaces, in order to give more firmness to the teeth to be filed.
The leaf metals were introduced and compressed into the carious cavities by means of three kinds of pluggers, which would nowadays be considered altogether insufficient and unfit for the purpose, but which then, nevertheless, served to produce excellent stoppings. The author speaks[450] of a lead stopping which had lasted in perfect condition for forty years.