Papers by Vicente Martinez
A historical perspective to work on people's teeth without causing severe pain and discomfort, th... more A historical perspective to work on people's teeth without causing severe pain and discomfort, thanks to the discovery of anaesthetics. This discovery made the use of the dental drill feasible. The first such drill only became available in about 1870, but this is not too surprising, given that the drilling of teeth without an anaesthetic would have been unthinkable. Now that the preparation of teeth could be carried out, it was possible to undertake some more adventurous procedures than the wholesale extraction of decayed teeth. Crowns and bridges By the turn of the century, some highly advanced dental work was carried out in which badly broken-down teeth were reconstructed with porcelain crowns. This procedure was aided by the invention of a cement that would set in the mouth (i.e. zinc phosphate cement), and which is still widely used to this day. That this could give a great deal of satisfaction can be illustrated from the letters of President Roosevelt of the United States of America to his parents when still a young man: After lunch I went to the dentist, and am now minus my front tooth. He cut it off very neatly and painlessly, took impressions of the root and space, and is having the porcelain tip baked. I hope to have it put in next Friday, and in the meantime I shall avoid all society, as I talk with a lithp and look a thight.
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Papers by Vicente Martinez