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Read in the Section of Oral and Dental Surgery of the American Medical Association, May, 1884.
Gentlemen:—A large number of remedial agents administered by physicians temporarily stain the teeth, but in looking over the list I find there are but few which may be said to permanently stain them. The mineral acids—nitric, sulphuric, hydrochloric, and other acids of this nature, if used for any length of time, may discolor the teeth and likewise have a deleterious effect on them; yet it cannot be said that such agents stain the teeth so that any particular method should be desired for restoring their natural appearance. The vegetable series may likewise be dismissed. The tannates and astringents generally do not permanently stain the teeth. The muriated tincture of iron, and in fact all of the ferrum preparations, with the single exception of ferrum dialystum, do stain the teeth; yet it is comparatively easy