And further, the application of these principles will inevitably encourage public interest in dentistry, and will materially diminish the sum total of pain and suffering that humanity is called upon to endure. Indeed, it is common--and highly gratifying--among many dentists now using zone analgesia--to have sensitive patients--those upon whom, because of past exhausting and nerve-racking experiences, they have always dreaded working--say “Well, Doctor, if you never hurt me any more than you did today I shall never again fear to come to you.” [Illustration: FIG. 26--Pressure at IV will not only anesthetize the third and fourth zones, but frequently also that half of the upper jaw. Pressure at V with finger covering the median line and counter pressure with the thumb on the outside of the jaw, or even on the lip directly opposite the finger, will usually anesthetize the incisors sufficiently for painless extraction.] Mothers will find this method a safe and certain means of relieving themselves and their children of an immense amount of pain and discomfort. For, while they cannot, of course, hope to possess the technical knowledge enabling them to find and exert pressure upon the nerves themselves, it is a comparatively simple matter for them to rigidly grasp the roots of an aching tooth between their thumb and finger, and temporarily relieve pain--at least until they can take little Alfred or Alice to the dentist. If this may not seem feasible, they can, by remembering the fingers that correspond with the particular zone it is desired to influence, do much to relieve distressing conditions in that zone until such time as the doctor or dentist can be visited, by squeezing, or by applying rubber bands around the proper fingers. For example: At a dinner party the other night one of the guests complained of severe pain in the right upper first molar. I told her to squeeze firmly the joint of her second or middle finger, which advice she considered a very ill-timed and pointless joke. Insisting that I was serious and helpfully disposed, she obeyed instructions, and in a very few minutes beamed complete relief from her dental anguish. Another instance in which toothache was relieved in what might be called an _outré_ manner was reported by Dr. J. F. Roemer of Waukegan, Ill., who operated with a pair of rubber bands upon the aching teeth of a young traveling man. Dr. Roemer writes that this man came to the office with an extremely painful and sensitive condition, chiefly affecting the incisor teeth. As the knight of the leather bag explained it his teeth were so “sore” that he could not eat any solid food whatever, and he didn’t much relish the food he drank. It was impossible for him to close his teeth together without causing great distress. A dentist who had examined the salesman could find nothing wrong with the teeth, from the dental standpoint.