TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. THE ARCHIVES OF DENTISTRY [Illustration] SUCCESSOR TO _Missouri Dental Journal, also Consolidated with New England Journal of Dentistry_. VOL. VII., No. 12.] DECEMBER, 1890. [NEW SERIES. Original Articles. _No article will be published in this department that has been read before any society or has appeared in any publication._ _The editor does not hold himself responsible, in any sense, for the views expressed by the authors of original articles._ _Any article intended for this department should be received by the first of the month previous to its publication.—Ed._ SOME OF THE ABUSES OF CROWN AND BRIDGE WORK. BY WALTER M. BARTLETT, D.D.S., ST. LOUIS, MO. There are many points in crown and bridge work requiring particular attention which many operators seem entirely to overlook in the construction of this special class of work. It might be of interest to you to turn your attention in this direction. In the first place, the use of crowns has been abused to a great extent by the crowning of all class of roots, some of which are only fit to be crowned by a good, strong pair of forceps. These roots may be divided into three classes: first, those that have been in a diseased condition for years and have been a source of constant irritation to their owners; second, those that are only held in by their gum attachments; third, those whose walls have been fractured, said fracture only extending down as far as the process. As the result of many inquiries in regard to the class first mentioned, I find that the majority of operators after spending weeks and even months in careful preparatory treatment, have met with very little success in crowning such cases. They invariably cause some annoyance to the patient. In the majority of cases the trouble is that of inflammation of the surrounding tissues, caused by the constant moving of the root during the process of mastication. After a root has been in a diseased condition for a year or more, it is questionable whether treatment, however carefully given, will place that root in a condition to be crowned and do the work of the original tooth. The second class is beyond the bounds of practical dentistry, and no operator who has any regard for his reputation will attempt this class of crown work, unless he has a mercenary object in view.