“Two or three cases out of ten will not, it seems, respond to zone therapy. But the majority will. There is no doubt a good reason for the failures, such as blocking of the ‘zone paths’ in some manner--as by a tumor, growth, pus condition, or obstruction. Or again, failure may be due to faulty technic. Better results will no doubt come with more experience. It only requires that the method be tried out on a huge scale, and by a large number of competent observers. Then the collated results will furnish us a basis for accurate application of these most wonderful and helpful principles.” CHAPTER 16. ZONE THERAPY--MAINLY FOR DENTISTS. There are four reasons why zone analgesia--as we call the pain-relieving properties of zone therapy--are not more generally used by dentists. One is that the dentist doesn’t wish to put himself in the embarrassing position of suggesting such a foolish-seeming thing to his pain-racked patient. Another is that the patient herself thinks she’s conferring a favor upon the dentist by permitting him to spend five or ten minutes’ valuable time in attempting to alleviate her sufferings, and make the ordeal of cavity preparation or scaling comparatively painless. Also, to press over the roots of a tooth for three, four, or more minutes--exerting, after toleration is established, all the force of which the operator is capable--is hard work. It’s much quicker and easier, and less likely to numb the dentist’s thumb and finger, to “slap” a gas cone over the patient’s nose, or inject cocaine around the gums--which, to my mind, hurts almost as badly as having the tooth extracted. There is yet another reason, however, which partially justifies the previous three. The analgesic results of zone pressure are not sufficiently uniform to “bank” on. In other words, a dentist, led by previous successes, might be tempted confidently to assure a patient of the painlessness, under zone analgesia, of a certain operation. But when he commenced to work he might almost lift the top of his victim’s head off. To obviate this do not limit the pressure to three minutes only, and do not attempt to operate or extract until a puncturing test with a sharp instrument shall prove the part to be desensitized. Also, I would here emphasize that there is no use in attempting, with zone analgesia, to relieve pain if it is desired to remove a nerve. We do not pretend to explain why it is possible, for instance, to work thirty-five minutes, (as demonstrated before the Mass. Dental Society by Dr. B. A. Sears, of Hartford) and cut the jaw bone all to pieces in order to remove an impacted wisdom tooth, while we are unable to thrust a nerve broach into a root canal. But the fact remains, and some time, when pathologists and other experts have studied these problems, we may know why. But for the present, we must be content to be guided by dearly-bought experiences.