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Origins of dentistry -

Dentists have been filling cavities and pulling teeth for centuries. Early attempts to treat dodgy molars included filling them with stone chips, resin, wood, and cork, with little or no anesthesia!

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Hesi-ren, "doctor of the tooth" -

The earliest known dentist was an Egyptian man called Hesi-ren, a "doctor of the tooth." He lived around 3000 BCE.

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Earliest dentures -

The Phoenicians crafted the oldest documented dentures during the 6th–4th century BCE, fashioning them from gold wire and incorporating six ivory teeth.

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Ivory dentures -

In the 1700s and 1800s in Europe and colonial North America, when people lost all their teeth they frequently resorted to using dentures crafted from ivory or wood.

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Fit for a US president -

President George Washington's dentures were crafted from gold and ivory, plus a mixture of human, donkey, and elephant teeth.

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Invention of the toothbrush -

The Chinese are credited with inventing the use of toothbrushes and toothpastes, in the late 15th century. This horsehair toothbrush with a silver gilt handle was made for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1795.

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Using the miswak -

The ancient Egyptians used branches with frayed ends to brush their teeth. The miswak is still used today, a teeth-cleaning chewing twig from the Salvadora persica (arak) tree.

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A cure for toothache? -

A widely held myth doing the rounds in the Middle Ages was that toothache could be cured by kissing a donkey!

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Painful extraction -

In the 1800s, blacksmiths and barbers also served as dentists. In those days they were the only tradesmen who had the appropriate tools to extract teeth.

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"Cat got your tongue" -

The phrase "cat got your tongue" is used to describe when someone is at a loss for words or being unusually quiet. But did you know that the saying originated 2500 years ago in ancient Assyria? This is where conquered soldiers and criminals had their tongues cut out and fed to the king's cats! A lesser punishment involved captives being forced to clean cats' teeth.

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Table manners -

In England during the Victorian period it was customary for those wearing false teeth to eat alone in their bedrooms before joining a dinner party. This way they'd save themselves the embarrassment of having their dentures falling out while dining!

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Just married! -

In Great Britain a set of dentures was a popular wedding gift in the 1800s. Simply so because people were expected to lose all their teeth at an early age.

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False teeth for for a king -

For those born with silver spoons in their mouths, a denture set was presented in an elaborate manner. This upper denture and lower denture set made of hippopotamus ivory and contained within an expensive porcelain holder was made in 1780 by Benjamin Ruspini for the Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), as indicated by the crest of three white feathers.

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Losing the tooth decay battle -

Winston Churchill once declared that Britain would never surrender. Unfortunately, he lost a few battles with tooth decay. His false teeth were made just before the start of the Second World War and worn by him until a few months before his death in 1965.

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The tooth worm -

It was once believed that toothache, tooth decay, and similar diseases were caused by tiny tooth worm residents in the teeth, munching on the enamel. The theory took root in Babylonia around 600 BCE.

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Dental pelican -

In the 14th century, French physician and surgeon Guy de Chauliac invented the dental pelican, which was used to perform dental extractions up until the late 18th century. The instrument was named as such because it resembled a pelican's beak.

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Tough material -

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, tougher even than the femur, the largest bone in the body.

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As unique as fingerprints -

Tooth prints are like fingerprints, as they are unique to each person. It's why dental records are so important to law enforcement when trying to identify unknown accident or murder victims.

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A common occurrence -

Tooth decay is the second most common disease in the United States— second only to the common cold.

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Gum disease epidemic -

Over 47% of adults in the United States, aged 30 and older, have some form of periodontal, or gum, disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's almost 65 million individuals.

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Cavity calamity -

Furthermore, notes the CDC, more than 90% of American adults have cavities in their permanent teeth, and more than one in four (26%) adults have untreated tooth decay.

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Wisdom teeth -

Wisdom teeth (marked here in red) are the molars that come through last and furthest back in your mouth, usually in your late teens or early twenties. But why are they so often removed?

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Wise move -

Our ancestors had a much tougher diet than we do today, and had bigger jaws and an extra set of molars to deal with eating uncooked plant food and raw meat. As we evolved and our diet improved, our jaws got smaller, leaving no room for these third molars. Today, the extra teeth are routinely extracted to prevent dental complications.

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Protective uses -

Throughout history human teeth have been used to ward off evil, worn as amulets, for example, or as necklaces. This example comes from West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, Indonesia.

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Legend of the tooth fairy -

Western folklore states that when a child loses one of their baby teeth, they should place it under their pillow. The tooth fairy will visit while they sleep, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment.

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An apple every other day? -

An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but not the dentist. While eating an apple can actually help remove plaque from your teeth and gums, doing so daily exposes your teeth to an excess of sugar and acidity, leading to exposure of dentine beneath the enamel. Tip: make sure you brush and floss after eating an apple.

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Invention of dental floss -

A dentist from New Orleans by the name of Levi Spear Parmly is credited with inventing the first form of dental floss, in 1819. Commercial floss, however, wasn't manufactured until 1882.

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Escape by floss -

On June 29, 1994, Robert Dale Shepard escaped from the South Central Regional Jail in South Charleston by braiding dental floss into a rope and escaping over the walls of the correctional facility. His novel jailbreak made headlines across the United States.

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Germ central -

Did you know there are more bacteria in the human mouth than there are people on Earth?

Sources: (Colgate) (Paul Revere House) (CDC) (The Washington Post) 

See also: What happens if you stop brushing teeth? 

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