Peaceful Bridging

In our past 200 years we have seen the advancing development of Dental Arts and Science though discoveries by its practitioners.Perhaps it will do some good to review the basis upon which ixed tooth replacement has evolved-that is the prosthetic crown.Prior to 1871, before the irst manufactured foot-treadle dental engine was introduced in America, the restoration of structurally compromised teeth was with hand cutting instruments and bands of metal or wires that were place about the tooth remanents.Although crude and only for the very wealthy, they seemed to be secure enough to last sometime-temporarily or permanently depending upon the time in service.Since life expectancy at this time was less than 35 years, even "temporary"-a year or more-would work well.We show here in our graphic igure 1, a page from the Dental Cosmos.In it we see the art of "engrafting" a metal crown about a tooth with minimal reduction/preparation.