History has preserved the most interesting facts, findings, and discoveries illustrating the long evolutionary path of tics from antiquity to the present day so that today dentists – fortunately for their patients – have the most modern materials and technologies at their disposal.

A Universal Problem

Hardwoods, bamboo sticks, mussel shells, animal teeth and bones, minerals, and semi-precious stones – with the use of these materials, the development of false teeth, which was already widely practiced by the ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Etruscans, Chinese, Indians, Romans, Greeks, and Arabs. We must pay tribute to the great ingenuity of the healers of those distant eras, who tried to find not only original but also practical and in their own way beautiful solutions to help their suffering patients.

So, in Honduras, the jaw of a man who lived in the 6th century was found. BC BC, with dentures made from the shells of sea mussels. And in Egypt, in one of the ancient burials, archaeologists discovered a skull with an artificial tooth made of hardwood. This find, interesting in itself, is notable for that wood was rarely used as a material for making artificial teeth. As determined by archaeologists, the age of the burial is 4.5 thousand years, that is, a wooden tooth was made at a time when dentistry in Ancient Egypt was already developed at a fairly high level. But qualified help, of course, was available only to the upper class. Even the name of the oldest dentist of the pharaohs is known – his name was Hesi-Re, and he lived just 4500 years ago, so perhaps that very tooth is his creation.

As a rule, the gold wire was used to fix dentures (and to strengthen mobile teeth). This method, which can be considered a prototype of the modern bridge and splinting structures, was practiced by the Phoenicians in the 3rd-4th centuries. BC e. The Etruscans later improved it and used it for the manufacture of complete removable dentures. They were solid, well-made structures with which you could chew rough food. Bridges and crowns were used to restore chewing function.

The knowledge and experience of the Etruscans in dentistry and, in particular, false teeth were adopted by Greek and Roman healers, who also widely used gold wire. Moreover, this technique was spelled out in the Laws of 12 tables (451-450 BC) – the first written source of the law of Ancient Rome.

For the manufacture of false teeth, wood, bovine, ivory, or hippo bone and human teeth were also used. It is interesting that not only doctors were engaged in artificial teeth, but also barbers, masseurs, bath attendants, and artisans – metal carvers, jewelers, and blacksmiths, who achieved considerable skill in this and even surpassed conservative
dentists.

Dentures; a Life Saver

In Europe, in the era of the gloomy Middle Ages, dental services were provided by bathhouse attendants, barbers, horsemen, monks, and market and fairground healers, who made tooth extraction almost a theatrical performance. Amulets, potions, recipes, and magical rites were widely used to expel the worm from the tooth, which was believed to be the cause of pain.

As for false teeth, no innovations were added: dentists mostly worked with already known techniques and experimented with the materials available to them. The French surgeon Guy de Choliak made his contribution to the development of medicine and dentistry, whose works served as teaching aids for European surgeons over the next several centuries. It was he who coined the term “dentist”.

Guy de Choliak created a dental extraction tool called the “pelican”: it worked on the principle of a lever, and with its help, the doctor could grab a sore tooth and carefully remove it from the root. Guy de Chaoliak’s follower is considered to be a professor at the University of Bologna, Giovanni di Arcoli, who lived in the 15th century.

He improved the forceps for the extraction of teeth and for the first time mentioned in his works gold foil as a material for filling carious teeth. An interesting fact: in the Middle Ages in England it was considered good form if parents gave dentures to newlyweds – for a happy old age.

During the Renaissance, artificial teeth were actively developed largely. Thanks to one of the greatest surgeons of the 16th century, Ambroise Paré. He continued the practice of using artificial teeth, carved from bovine or ivory, reinforced with gold wire in false teeth. In addition, Paré was the first who began to carve artificial teeth in the form of blocks from one piece of bone, as well as to use obturators for palatal defects: they were gold plates attached to a piece of sponge.

The Indians of South America did not use human teeth in the manufacture of false teeth. This is confirmed by a find dated to the 9th century. n. BC: Inca skull, all thirty-two teeth of which were artificial and made of amethyst and quartz. And in ancient China, for the manufacture of complete removable dentures, pieces of bamboo were used, which were connected to each other using fasteners and a strong thread.

Debunking the Myth!

The beginning of the 17th century was marked by a very important event: a special royal decree was issued in France, according to which dentistry was recognized as an independent field of medicine, and the “dentist surgeon” became a new medical specialization. But in order to get the right to practice dental practice, it was necessary to pass an exam of a special commission, which included eminent surgeons.

In 1728, the scientific work of Pierre Fauchard, the personal dentist of King Louis XV, was published. The book was called The Dentist Surgeon, or Treatise on Teeth. She, to smithereens, debunked the common myth of the tooth worm.

The writing of this work was preceded by a scrupulous research work: Fauchard studied “dental atlases” found during excavations of the city of Sidon; reports on the excavations of the city of Tarquinia, where the Etruscan tombs were discovered; textbooks on the dental craft, written by Roman barbers and goldsmiths, and treatises by the famous Arab surgeon Abulcasis. In his book, the dentist described in detail 102 dental diseases and their causes.

In general, Pierre Fauchard did so much for the development of dentistry and dentures that his inventions are worthy of a separate article. He began to take a more humane approach to patients when extracting teeth and recommended not to pinch the patient’s head between the doctor’s knees during this already unpleasant and painful procedure.

“The patient from this goes into a state of unwanted nervousness,” – explained the dentist. Fauchard suggested a different position when the patient sits in a chair, and the doctor is located behind him or to the right. In this way, the dentist also removed teeth for pregnant women who underwent the operation surprisingly calmly.

The development of medicine and dentistry in the X century was promoted by the Arab physician Abulkasis, the court physician of the Caliph of Cordoba Al-Hakam II, who lived in Andalusia.

As a surgeon, Abulkasis paid great attention to dentistry. He argued that artificial teeth are a part of medical science designed to correct defects, restore teeth and thereby help patients improve their quality of life.

Before him, healers did not deal with false teeth, considering this occupation, not in the field of medicine. Abulkasis is the author of a detailed technique describing the imposition of a gold or silver ligature for splinting mobile teeth.

But Fauchard not only skillfully removed the patients’ own teeth but also inserted artificial ones. He came up with the idea of using fixing denture springs from a thickened gold wire or spiral. In fact, it was the prototype of the modern denture. It was Fauchard who invented pin teeth and invented to strengthen several connected teeth on one or two pins, which became the prototype of modern bridges.

About the widely practiced method of installing dentures, Fauchard wrote: “To strengthen the dentures, some doctors drill holes in the jawbones of patients and insert gold wire there – a method that testifies more to the courage of surgeons than to their intelligence.”

For the manufacture of the false teeth themselves, the dentist used ivory, walrus and hippo fangs, monkey teeth, and patients’ own teeth that had fallen out. He also took into account the aesthetic side, choosing the color of the false tooth so that it looked natural. Fauchard covered his ivory teeth with caps made of gold, on which a layer of fired porcelain enamel of various shades was applied. This innovation was the first attempt at the use of veneering materials in artificial teeth and marked the beginning of the production of ceramic false teeth.

In addition, Fauchard perfected the obturators developed by Ambroise Paré. He replaced the sponge with movable ivory “tines” that connected to the palatal plate. For this, the “processes” were inserted vertically into the nasal cavity, and then, with the help of a special screw, they were moved to a horizontal position, due to which the plate was held. Finally, Fauchard came up with the idea of using metal and silver plates to correct bite and abnormal growth of teeth, so that the dentist can be considered the founder of orthodontics.

Fauchard, of course, had no shortage of wealthy clientele willing to pay big bucks for beautiful smiles. And this led him to the idea of opening his own dental workshop. Fauchard recruited his students from middle-class jewelry craftsmen, but before teaching them the profession of dental technicians, he forced them to study textbooks on medicine and anatomical atlases and take exams. The workshop produced up to 1000 artificial teeth per year. But for especially important clients, Fauchard made dentures himself. For example, for Madame Pompadour, he made several pin teeth from precious materials using a special technology. Each tooth was worth 100 Louis – about the same as an expensive diamond ring at that time.

Every Brilliant Idea has its Own Time

Removable dentures remained the most common design until the mid-19th century. They were made either from expensive alloys, which required springs to fix them, or from ivory and hippopotamus teeth, which, in turn, were heavy, and the dentures made from them had a poor fit. The upper part of the full dentures, like the lower one, was made in the shape of a horseshoe, without the palatal parts: this made it possible to leave more space for the tongue, reduce the cost of manufacturing artificial teeth and make the structure itself lighter.

But such dentures were not only uncomfortable but also distorted facial features. A good example of this is the portrait of President George Washington, painted in 1796. By the time George Washington became president, he had one single tooth of his own. During his life, he changed at least four sets of dentures, and a new denture, made by dentist John Greenwood, was installed shortly before the president posed for artist Gilbert Stuart.

The cylindrical springs of the lower part of the denture pressed hard on the jaw, which made Washington’s lower lip protrude strongly forward, and the upper one, on the contrary, seemed sunken. To smooth over this defect, the artist placed a cotton roller under the president’s upper lip.

And now is the time to tell about dentist James Gardette, who contributed to the development of false teeth. This is already the era of the late 18th – early 19th centuries. Gardett also made spring dentures but found that suction cups could be used instead. To do this, you need to change the shape of the upper set of dentures so that it protrudes deep into the mouth and is securely fixed on the palate.

It was a promising idea, but in order to mass-produce new false teeth, cheaper materials were required as the basis for false teeth that dentists did not have at the time, so they continued to use retaining springs. But in 1851 a volcanic mixture was discovered.

And in just a few years, vulcanized rubber has replaced the expensive materials that have been used in dentistry since ancient times – silver, gold, and animal bones. If a set of dentures from gold cost $ 150, from silver – $ 75, then a set of vulcanite – $ 30. One could buy it even cheaper – for $ 8-10 – from those who did not practice dentistry professionally. For the first time in the history of artificial teeth, artificial teeth have ceased to be the privilege of wealthy people.

Vulcanite enabled dentists to design strong, durable, and reasonably light dentures in exact accordance with the plaster casts of patients. And, even with all the shortcomings of this material, the dental technicians themselves admitted that “vulcanized rubber is a gift from God, if not for dentists, then for the civilized world as a whole.”

Vulcanite was used for false teeth until the 1930s when it was in turn replaced by acrylic plastics. The use of polymers became another breakthrough in the development of false teeth, as well as subsequent inventions that opened new technologies and materials to dentists.

Artificial teeth were cut from animal bones, and the teeth of the animals themselves (calves, pigs, dogs, monkeys, hippos, horses) and real human teeth were also used, which was very common in Europe until the end of the 18th century. The ethical side of the issue, apparently, did not care about doctors and patients as much as the opportunity to earn money for some and solve an urgent problem for others.

Do you have any questions regarding False Teeth? Or do you want to Schedule an Appointment? Feel free to Contact North Augusta Dentist.