Self-study
Dental researcher: Support Filling a cavity in a tooth is not a harmless procedure: it inevitably damages some of the healthy parts of the tooth. ████████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ █████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████ ████████ ██ ████ ██████ ██████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ████ █ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that dentists shouldn’t fill cavities unless the cavity poses an immediate danger to the nerves in the tooth. This is because filling cavities damages healthy parts of the tooth. Cavities, on the other hand, are only harmful if they reach the nerves, which many cavities never do.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that it is not much more damaging or costly to fill a cavity when it becomes harmful than it is to preemptively fill a harmless cavity. The author also assumes that it’s preferable to avoid a guaranteed harm (filling a cavity) to avoid a merely potential harm (nerve damage).
4.
Which one of the following ███████████ ██ ██████ ████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████████████ ██████████
a
Dentists should perform ███ █████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ███ █████ █████████ ███████
The conclusion is about a situation where dentists should not proceed with a treatment. This principle tells us when dentists should proceed, so it's not helpful.
b
Dentists should help █████ ████████ ██ ███████ ████████ ██████ ████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ ██████████
The author’s argument is strictly about what should be done once cavities are present, so any steps that happen before that point are irrelevant.
c
A condition that ██ ████ ███████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ █████ █ ██████ ████ ██ ██████████ ████████
Fillings are a certain harm, but cavities are only a potential harm. This principle supports the conclusion that it’s better to wait and see rather than causing certain harm with the filling.
d
A condition that ██ █████████ ███████████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████ █████ ███████ ████ ███████ ████ █████████ ███████
As far as we know, fillings are a permanent solution, not just a temporary relief. That makes this principle irrelevant.
e
A condition that ██ ███████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ████ █████████ ██████ ██ ███ ██ ████ █████ ████████ █████████████
From the stimulus, we don't know whether dentists are able to constantly surveil cavities. That means we don't know whether this principle applies, so it's not useful.