The Social History Of False Teeth

This is a story of the social and health problems(now called: a dental plate).
people have always had because our teeth needA major discovery in the 1800s was the use of
constant care. Mankind has always been troubled bylaughing gas (nitrous oxide) as the standard anesthesia
toothache pain and a wide variety of problems withto eliminate most of the pain associated with dental
natural teeth. Five thousand years ago the Babylonianssurgery and routine care of teeth. Anesthesia by
recorded their attempts to make false teeth. Some ofinhaling was discovered in 1844 by Horace Wells who
their toothache treatments included prayers andwas a young dentist is Hartford, Connecticut. He
incantations.. In fact, the social history of false teethrefused to patent the idea and made it available he
goes all the way back to the Bronze Age. Skulls weresaid: "for the good of all."
found from that time period with the remains of falseOne of the first quite successful materials used to hold
teeth in them made of flint and shells. The ancientfalse teeth securely in the mouth, as a dental plate,
Greeks designed special kinds of pliers for toothwas Vulcanite made by Goodyear Rubber Company.
extraction. They even had a mouthwash made ofBut it was slightly porous, hard to clean, retained the
castoreum and pepper to be used to prevent toothtaste of certain foods and often caused soreness of
decay. It is known that the rich Etruscans were quitethe gums. Other materials used with varying degrees
proud of their gold-banded sets of human teeth. Theof success were: gold, Celluloid and of course, the
human teeth used to make those sets of false teethpresent day acrylic resins.
were teeth recently bought and pulled from poorAfter much study and analysis of the problems people
people who sold their healthy teeth to buy food andhave with dentures, dentists have concluded that to be
other necessities of life.successful and comfortable a modern denture needs
The first sets of false teeth looked nothing like thoseto have: stability, support and a reliable means of
of today. They were usually made of carved: hardretention.
wood, walrus ivory or animal bones and were held inEveryone who wears dentures (false teeth)
place with either wire or silk thread. We are toldunderstands that their denture needs to get basic
Elizabeth I used rolls of cloth in her mouth to fill in thesupport from their gums and jawbones. They also
hollows in her face that were caused by the loss ofknow stability of the denture is needed so it does not
her natural teeth. There was a Lord Palmerston whomove side-to-side or front to back. They are also
constantly worried that his ill-fitting false teeth wouldaware that the suction or surface tension provided by
just pop out of his mouth unexpectedly. The story isthe roof of the mouth is a basic need of those who
told of President Grant, who, while on a world cruisewant to wear a denture that is comfortable when
on the presidential yacht, lost his false teeth overboardspeaking and eating. These three basic considerations,
and so was unable to make a series of speeches hewhen properly achieved, will provide the wearer with
had planned to deliver.dentures that are kept securely in place while chewing
Most false teeth wearers of about one hundred yearsfood and talking. In addition, by doing what is needed to
ago removed their false teeth while eating. In fact, theystop denture movement the wearer feels much more
did all of their eating while hiding in a bedroom and onlyconfidant and trusting of his denture's ability to stay in
wore their false teeth when out in public. This wasplace. In this way the wearer can successfully
because false teeth in those days were not made foreliminate any loose denture embarrassment while
eating but instead they were used to simply provide aeating and talking - anywhere.
way to make people look and talk better.Today, It is understood by dentists that the gums and
George Washington's natural teeth were always softbones of the mouth always shrink and gradually
and prone to decay. He struggled with bad teeth andchange shape over time after the natural teeth are
toothache for most of his life. It is said he tested andremoved, These shrinkage changes happen gradually
wore many different sets of primitive false teeth fromand the result is dentures made to fit quite well when
age 22 until his death. If you will look closely at hisnew, will slowly lose their stability, support and retention
portrait on today's dollar bill, you will notice he is notqualities, all of which are basic needs for the wearer's
smiling. The portrait artist had him stuff cotton behindcontinued comfort.
his lips to make him look much better in the finalTherefore, after a period of time - approximately one
painting.or two years after teeth are extracted and dentures
The first "dentists" (a term not used until many yearsare put in place - adjustments are needed to again
later) to deal with the dental problems of people,make the denture: stable, supported and retained
beginning in 15th century in England, were barbers whoproperly. One-way to do this is to have a dentist re-line
later became known as barber-surgeons. Back thenthe inside of the dental plate with more acrylic material.
they were called "drawers of teeth" or "toothIn this way the gaps are filled and the loose denture
drawers." They did their extractions in stalls in theregains its original tight feeling. Another, less expensive
public market. General practice was to either tie themethod of re-lining a denture is to put an always soft,
patient in a chair or simply do their pulling and filling whilealways flexible liner material on the inside (top) of the
straddling the patient who was forced to lie on thedenture. This way of solving the problem comes in a
ground.do it yourself kit. It is an easy way of re-lining a denture
Over the years since then, many improvements havethat can be done at home with a new (Patent
been made such as: better ways to measure thePending) kit called Weber Denture Liner Kit.
mouth for more stable false teeth. There were alsoThe dental profession has studied the how and why
improved ways of cleaning and filling teeth,of dental problems for many years with the result that
improvements in materials used to make the actualthere are now hundreds of radically improved methods
teeth - such as porcelain instead of wood, bone orand materials available to make top quality false teeth
ivory. In the early days coil springs were often used infor those in need today.
uppers and lowers to make it easier for wearers toWhen we look back at those first attempts to make
chew food while wearing those very heavy falsefalse teeth many centuries ago, we should be glad to
teeth. Later it was discovered that suction in the roofbe alive today and not have to suffer the dental
of the mouth could be utilized to give greater stabilityproblems of the 15th century.
to the structure that holds the false teeth in the mouth