Dentistry: Then and now
The practices that we see in modern dentistry haven’t always been in place. Just like any other profession dentistry had to start somewhere. Since as far as we know people have always had teeth, it can be assumed that people have always had toothaches!
Research shows that ancient dentistry was practiced as far back as 7000 BC. This may seem like a long time ago, but it’s not so unbelievable. Researchers have found skulls dated back this far with dental holes drilled into the teeth. Can you imagine laying there while a prehistoric cave man drilled holes into your teeth? Think about how that would feel with no pain medication and to think there are those of us who fear going to the dentist now!
The ancient Romans also prized clean teeth. Higher class families would have their slaves pick at their teeth with small sticks. Could the Romans have invented the world’s very first toothpicks? They were also very creative in making their own tooth powders out of things like dried bay leaves, burned eggshells, and sometimes even mice heads! This makes the old fashioned baking soda and peroxide sound wonderful!
Research has also shown that the Egyptians were practicing dentistry as well. Onions and fennel seeds are only a few of the antidotes listed in a papyrus on toothaches that was found. This papyrus was discovered in 1872 and is where the Egyptians documented their interest in dentistry.
In 1530 a book was written called the "Artzney Buchlein." This was the earliest book to concentrate only on dentistry. The first dentistry book written in English was written 155 years later by Charles Allen. This book was titled Operator for the Teeth.
Pierre Fauchard is now sometimes referred to as the father of modern dentistry. In the 17th century he wrote a dental textbook, the described the anatomy of teeth and the jaws. This book also explained some of the dental procedures that we know today. It touched on things like extractions, decay, orthodontics and many other areas.
Beginning in the 19th dental procedures began being performed by local barbers. None was actually licensed to work on teeth as dentist’s are today, but this wasn’t too far off. Soon physicians would be specializing in dentistry; however they were available only to the wealthy.
These specialists found that they needed materials to work on teeth and enlisted in the help of Claudius Ash, a local jeweler. They asked him to come up with a gold that could be used in the mouth. Mr. Ash did and found the business to be profitable. He soon started to work on making other dental products. At this point dentist’s had to be licensed to use materials inside the mouth.
While dentistry has come a long way since these times, it seems that our ancestors were on to something. Coming up with inventive ways to make their own crowns, prosthetic teeth and even do fillings. They even came up with ways to make dentures, from wood. It seems that this history of dentistry goes pretty far back, farther back that we may have ever imagined.
Please feel free to leave a comment about this page
Was this page useful? Do you have something to add? Do you disagree?
If your comments meet our
guidelines then we will publish them (you do not need to register!)
Or why not tell a friend and email
this
page to someone