From brushing and flossing to
straightening and whitening, people today often
put a lot of work into maintaining the health
and appearance of their smile. The current trend is for
straight, pearly white teeth. But the history of dental care
stretches all the way back to the beginning
of human society and goes to some
very unusual places. So today, we're going to rattle
off some fascinating facts about the history of dentistry. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. And let us know in the
comments below what other everyday related topics
you would like to hear about. OK. So let's take a look
at those chompers. Open wide. Prehistoric humans who lived
before the advent of oral care actually had very
few dental problems. Scientists believe this is on
account of their diet, which consisted exclusively of
unprocessed fibrous foods that help cleaned their
teeth while they ate. However, as humans evolved,
so did what was on the menu. Over time, people
found if they didn't take care of their teeth, they
developed dental problems. Archaeologists
have found evidence that early humans
cleaned their teeth by picking at them with things
like porcupine quills, animal bones, and tree twigs. As early as 3,500 BCE,
Mesopotamians we're using chew sticks to clean their teeth. The Egyptians and
Chinese are known to have used them as well. Ancient people were always
aware of tooth decay. But the first known scientific
theory about its causes dates back at least 5,000
years, to ancient Sumeria. The theory was that cavities
are caused by a creature known as the tooth worm,
which they believed would bore holes in teeth. Don't laugh. It's not as silly as it sounds. Cavities can actually
resemble the kinds of holes worms bore through
other materials, like wood. The Sumerians, Greeks,
Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian people all
believed in the tooth worm. While it sounds like an ancient
superstition to us today, some European doctors
were actually still warning people that worms were
the cause of their tooth decay as late as the 14th century. Though no one knows
exactly when people started brushing their
teeth, archaeologists believed the practice
originated somewhere in the neighborhood
of 3,000 BCE. The Babylonians and Egyptians
were the first cultures we know of to fashion
rudimentary toothbrushes, which were made
mostly from twigs. The first known
bristle toothbrush, resembling the kind
we still used today, was created in China sometime
during the Tang dynasty, between the 7th
and 10th centuries. It was made from
hog bristles, which would have been attached
to a handle carved from bone or bamboo. Explorers eventually
brought these to the West. And in the 17th century, they
began to be adopted in Europe. The oldest known dental
filling, made from beeswax, was found in a
6,500-year-old jawbone, discovered by archaeologists
in Slovenia, in 2012. It's unknown how
widespread this method was, but we do know that by
the 16th century BCE, the Egyptians were regularly
using dental fillings. Although they were really
only available to the wealthy, the Egyptian fillings were
made in a wide variety of ways and from a wide
variety of materials. One was a mixture of
ground barley mixed with honey and yellow
ocher, which was also useful for holding loose
teeth in place. Another way was to fill
cavities with bits of linen. Evidence for this latter ancient
dental practice was first found in the teeth of a
2,100-year-old mummy. In numerous cultures, the
conditions of one's teeth is intimately connected
to their social status. Bright white teeth are
considered a status symbol today, but they weren't always. In ancient Etruscan society,
for example, the upper classes often had their teeth
removed and replaced with flashy gold facsimiles. Long before big Daddy
Kane or Flavor Flav. According to one anthropologist,
wealthy Etruscan women would deliberately have
their teeth extracted, so they could be fitted
with an appliance made from a gold band, which would
hold the replacement teeth. Etruscans would buy
these appliances directly from goldsmiths. And they were not cheap. Roman women also
underwent such procedures. The famous poet Martial
saw such behavior as vanity and mocked the women
of his society for it. He facetiously pointed
out that while ladies may be able to
replace their hair and teeth at the
marketplace, they were stuck with
their original eyes, since no one was
selling new ones. Decorating one's teeth wasn't
only popular with the Etruscans and Romans. In the 14th century, various
Southeast Asian cultures would also develop an
affinity for gold teeth. For example, many
Filipino people were moved to imitate
the legendary look of their god, Melu, who
was famous for his mouth of gold teeth. Meanwhile, over
in Mezzo-America, the Mayan people
also took great pride in the appearance
of their mouths. Mayans would often file their
teeth down and decorate them with minerals. Ornate inlays would be fashioned
by boring holes in the teeth with copper tubes. The holes were then filled with
precious stones, like jade. Turquoise and quartz
were also popular. Unlike the Roman and
Etruscan practices, the Mayan modifications weren't
simply a matter of style. They were undertaken for
ritual and religious purposes. Mayans may have liked
gems in their teeth, but that wasn't
everyone's cup of tea. The Japanese, for example, had
a completely different style. As far back as the
8th century in Japan, women would practice,
Ohaguro, or teeth blackening. Fashions at the time
called for women to use makeup to paint
their faces pale white. The problem was the white makeup
made the women's teeth appear yellow. By dyeing their
teeth black, women would heighten the contrast
between their teeth and the white makeup. To accomplish the
teeth blackening, Japanese women would drink
a mixture of tea or saki mixed with oxidized iron. This would have to be
repeated every few days, in order to keep
the teeth black. While the practice originated
with aristocratic upper classes, by the 18th
century, teeth blackening became associated with geishas. In 1870, the Japanese
government banned the practice. Japanese women went
to great lengths to die and keep
their teeth black. But other women wound up
with black teeth for far less deliberate reasons. For example, Queen
Elizabeth of England. Sugar became incredibly
popular in Tudor-era England. And not being
well-understood at the time, it wreaked havoc on
many people's teeth. Queen Elizabeth is said to have
eaten so much of the stuff, her teeth actually turned black. This is attested to
by a German visitor to Elizabeth's court, who wrote
that the 65-year-old queen's teeth were, "black," a
fault the English seemed to suffer from, because
of the great use of sugar. While she probably could have
received the best dental care available at the time,
Elizabeth didn't do anything about her problem, because
she was utterly terrified of dentists. In her entire life, she had only
a single rotten tooth pulled. In all fairness, it
wasn't just Elizabeth that had a wicked sweet tooth. 17th century Europeans in
general just loved dessert. Of course, sugar was so
expensive it was primarily consumed by the wealthy. The overindulgence led
to dental problems. And cavities came to be
seen as a royal disease. In something that sounds
like a Monty Python movie, the look became fashionable and
people of lower social standing actually took to blackening
their own teeth in imitation of the wealthy. Viking warriors were known
for a lot of cool things. And while the part about
the cool horned helmets isn't really true, the
part about them ruthlessly plundering Europe for
hundreds of years is. When it came to
their dental work, evidence shows that
Vikings were really into modifying their teeth. For example, at one Viking
site, anthropologists found multiple human skulls
with horizontal grooves filed into the front teeth. An examination showed that
they were deliberately made. Although their exact
purpose is unclear, one generally
well-regarded theory holds that they were for
social identification and would have marked the
individual to his peers as a warrior or a tradesman. Dentures are believed
to have originated with the ancient Etruscans
over 2,500 years ago. And by the
Renaissance, they were common among wealthy Europeans. Some sets of this era were made
from ivory or carved animal bones. But others are known to have
incorporated human teeth. These teeth typically
came from the poor, who could make money by selling
their teeth to rich people. They also sometimes were
pulled from the dead, which sounds like a plot from
a horror film from the '80s. Speaking of dentures made
from real human teeth, America's A-number
one founding father George Washington himself only
had one tooth left in his head when he was inaugurated
as president. He owned four sets
of dentures, which were likely made from
teeth purchased mostly from his slaves. One of these sets, made from
ivory, lead, human teeth, and animal teeth is still on
display at his Mount Vernon estate. History records that he
didn't like them very much. Washington would
constantly complain that his dentures were
uneasy in the mouth and bulged his lips out. Nonetheless, teeth were
an important status symbol at the time. And Washington was very
conscious of his appearance. So he wore them. It is also possible that
Washington underwent a tooth transplant, as his dentist,
Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur, advertised expertise
in such procedures. In 1784, Washington is
known to have purchased nine teeth, at
least some of which came from people
he had enslaved. Though it can't be
proven definitively, it's believed these
teeth may have been used for the transplant. In modern times,
the dental ideal is considered to
be a bright smile with straight, white teeth. People will wear
braces, use whiteners, or do pretty much whatever else
they need to achieve the look. But most don't realize, it's
a relatively new fashion. The popularity of
the look really only goes back to
the 20th century and was greatly created
by Hollywood movies. The trend, arguably,
began with veneers, created by a cosmetic
dentist named Marcus Pincus in the 1940s. They were supported
by movie stars, like Shirley Temple
and Judy Garland, who became famous for
having perfect smiles. While mass market teeth
whitening products didn't become a thing until the
1980s, teeth whitening itself is nothing new. Ancient Romans are known to
have whitened their own teeth with their own urine. You let me know how that goes. So what do you think? In what era would your
teeth feel most at home? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
