Spot Check




	“White spots on the teeth - early signs of tooth decay?” ©2001 PFPC (with special thanks to PM) see also: Dean’s Index In 1908, Dr. Greene Vardiman Black, a man well versed in the histology of the teeth, wrote the classic textbook "Operative Dentistry" (1908). In this work Black describes the process of dental decay as follows: Caries of enamel is caused by an acid formed by microorganisms under the following conditions: (1) The organisms are attached to or lie upon the outside of the enamel. They grow and form the acid which causes caries of enamel in that position ... (2) The enamel rods are cemented together by a cementing substance which dissolves more readily in an acid than the rods themselves, and first effect upon the enamel is to dissolve out this cementing substance. ... (3) The decaying spot upon the enamel is always whitened, as the first observable change. This change in color is sometimes not considerable and is very easily overlooked while the teeth are wet, but, when the teeth are dried and examined carefully, the color will be found to be a grayish white, or even very white in some cases, and the outlines are often very clearly marked. (4) In such spots an explorer is likely to catch if passed lightly over the surface, instead of gliding smoothly as it will on sound enamel. ...(1) What is worrying here is that this description is identical to what Black as well as other histologists of the time (Theodore Beust, James Leon Williams) - and many others later on- describe as the histologic picture of the white spots in dental fluorosis (Mottled Teeth): "The essential malformation in this condition is the failure of the cementing substance between the enamel rods in the outer one-fourth to one-third, more or less, of the surface of the enamel. When this exists alone the enamel is a dead paper-white." [Black & McKay - Dental Cosmos 58:129-156(1916)]. In fact, McKay himself wrote in a letter (dated March 29, 1927) to Surgeon Grover A. Kempf, of the USPHS: "...mottled enamel under the microscope (and by the way, this work has all been done and published) is almost identical with enamel that has been decalcified [note:underlined in the original] and this at once raises the question as to a possible decalcifying ingredient in the water.” [Letter is part of the H.T. Dean collection, in the holdings of the Natl. Library of Medicine]. This was before fluoride was identified as the culprit. Other References: 1) Dr. Greene Vardiman Black - Father of Modern Dentistry http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/Projects/IllinoisAl ive/files/jp/htm3/jpblack.html Black is seen as the father of modern dentistry. The Black method of preparing amalgam alloys for fillings is still in use. 1) also in: Teuscher GW - JADA 24:1629 (1937) 2) Letter is part of the H.T. Dean collection, in the holdings of the US Natl. Library of Medicine History of Dentistry, Division of Community Dentistry, University of Western Ontario (2001) http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~tamda/jennie/dentistry _8.pdf Knutson J - “Sodium Fluoride solutions: technique for application to the teeth” Journal of the American Dental Association 36 (1948)