medical grade plastics can withstand the high heat and pressure of autoclaving as well.

Hey Mary--they still threaten jail time for active TB. Should the rest of the population get the joy of being exposed to such a disease b/c someone with it doesn't see the need for hospitalization?

Castle makes (or used to) lights for dental units, so lights are definately part of their forte!

A hopper and a bedpan sanitizer are two different things! A hopper is a big sink with flushing capabilities--I've never seen a fold up version before...

Taylor, Xray films went in here. The tech would expose the films in the Xray room, then slide the plate into the cabinet so when they went in the darkroom on the other side, they'd open the door in there to develop the film. The unexposed side held the cassettes with loaded, ready to go films. You keep it in there so they aren't exposed to scatter radiation when you are shooting the one you want.

Some of these are a little newer than the last picture. Stainless steel rimlocks!

Yup, as kind of answered above, they are impression trays. Usually we fill them with alginate to make a negative impression of the arch and then pour them with dental stone (not plaster of paris) to get the positive replication of the arch. These seem to be aluminum and adjustable (somewhat) to fit a variety of sizes of mouths.

Oh yeah, the rheostat belongs on the floor--you push the lever with your foot

The "motor" on the tray is the rheostat--you push it to make the handpieces run. Definately Ritter equipment here! I can't believe that the cuspidor hasn't been smashed

Ahhh, a "Ritter robot"!!! I came in all sorts of cool colors: I've seen them in pink, blue, green, beige--usually with cabinetry to match!! Circa 1960's

Hey Amanda's Mom, BIG difference between an autoclave and a bedpan sanitizer!

The carpules go into reusable syringes. They are pre-loaded with lidocaine, carbocaine, mepivicaine, etc. The metal end has a little rubber diaphram in it that the needle goes in, the rubber plugs on the other end are engaged with the harpoon end of the syringe so the DDS can aspirate during injection to make sure they're not in a blood vessel.

Those little tubes are anesthetic carpules--this picture was probably taken within the dental clinic, no?

Motts, was this unit a nice enameled shade of blue, green or pink? VERY popular colors from the era that this unit is from! BTW, I love how there is still paper towel in all of the holders

Actually, there are no "drills" on this unit. The piece on the very left is part of the air/water syringe, the other 2 tubings are for the handpieces that were removed. The "mini-trol" was typically an adec unit used by hygienists more than dentists,circa 1970's. It looks as though its missing its metal tray that goes on top of the unit. The switches are in the "on" position!!