Flame to Furnace: Turning Up the Heat in Dentistry

Crinkled Gold

Alcohol, or spirit, lamps and annealers were used to heat small balls of “crinkled” gold foil, causing impurities coating the gold to melt away. Removing the impurities allowed these individual pellets of gold foil to adhere to each other when forcefully compressed into a filling cavity.

Shown here are several heating devices, and other material, used by dentists when practicing the gold foil technique, including gold as foil, pellets, cylinders, and sponge or “crystal,” automatic gold foil condensers, alcohol lamps and an annealer, as well as a student and an instructional model gold foil preparation.

Glenner, RA 1994 How it evolved: Gold fillings. Bull Hist Dent 42(3):129-130, November. 

Gold

Gold foil, pellets, & cylinders (A361.1)
The thin sheets of gold foil were cut into small squares and “crinkled up” into pellets or balls.

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Guy D Cochran, DDS 

Gold foil, JM Ney & Co

Sales ad, Jas W Edwards Co’s Illustrated catalogue of dental furniture, materials & supplies, c. 1910 (D641.5)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: LLoyd Flatland

Gold foil pellets
possibly from the old P&S school at 14th Street, San Francisco, pre 1960

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Gold cylinders in different sizes, JM Ney & Co

Sales ad, Jas W Edwards Co’s Illustrated catalogue of dental furniture, materials & supplies, c. 1910 (D641.5)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Lloyd Flatland

“Crystal” gold, Dr E DeTrey & Sons

Sales ad, Jas W Edwards Co’s Illustrated catalogue of dental furniture, materials & supplies, c. 1910 (D641.5)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Lloyd Flatland

Automatic gold foil condensers
a) Snow & Lewis plugger, c. 1870; b) Lewis plugger #7 with bakelite handle (A278.21), c. 1910
Instruments like these were spring-loaded pounding devices that could be dialed to different levels of forcefulness. They succeeded the mid-19th century use of pluggers and mallets for placing gold foil cavity restorations.

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: a. Unknown; b. John A Bier, DDS

Alcohol Lamps and Annealers

Glass alcohol lamp with cotton wick
Due to the purity of its flame, burning alcohol was used for annealing gold.

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Glass spirit lamp “for soldering, modelling [sic], etc.”

Sales ad, Claudius Ash and Sons A catalogue of artificial teeth, dental materials, instruments, tools, furniture, etc, 1875 (D443.1)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Glass alcohol lamp with cotton wick

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Oval and square glass alcohol lamps with cotton wicks, SS White Mfg Co

Sales ad, Samuel S White Catalogue of dental materials, furniture, instruments, etc, 1876
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: LE Carter, DDS

Brass alcohol lamp
possibly from the old P&S school at 14th Street, San Francisco, pre 1960

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Metal alcohol lamp, “adapted for student use”

Sales ad, Wilmington Dental Mfg Co Illustrated Catalogue, 1890 (D443.3)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Amber glass alcohol lamp, cotton wick & metal fittings (A109.1), Pat. 1880

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Glass alcohol lamp, cotton wick & metal fittings (A570.280), Dixon Inc, c. 1940s

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Family of Alfred L Weisler, DDS

Glass alcohol lamps with nickel-plated metal tops & flame shield

Sales ad, Wilmington Dental Mfg Co Illustrated Catalogue, 1890 (D443.3)
University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Glass alcohol lamp with annealing tray & torch attachment (A110.4 & 108.1)

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Unknown

Ceramic & wood annealing tray, The Custer Electric Gold Annealer (A107.1)
As described by Spencer, “The first invention by Dr. Custer to win wide use among dentists was the first electric gold annealer, produced in 1890. Previously, dentists passed gold through the flame of a spirit lamp to make it annealable.”

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Harry A True, DDS

Gold Foil Preparations

Gold foil student preparations
made by Donald Yent, DDS

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: Donald Yent, DDS

Gold foil instructional model preparations (A360.1)
made by P&S Operative Dentistry faculty member Harry A True, DDS

University of the Pacific Permanent Collection, Donor: William True, DDS