Dentistry

Well, the other day I went to the dentist for a deep cleaning. Now, I haven’t been to the dentist in at least a few years so one could probably say that I deserved such torture. Let’s just say anything involving the word “deep” like deep tissue massage or deep cleaning is going to hurt. In my case, it still hurts in a few places.

So I started wondering about our ancestors and the dentist. It took 10 shots of pain killer in my mouth to be able to sit through the deep cleaning, just imagine our poor ancestors that went to the dentist without painkiller-yikes!

The ADA, http://www.ada.org/public/resources/history/index.asp, has a historical timeline of dentistry covering ancient origins, middle ages, 18th through 20th century. There is a National Museum of Dentistry (imagine that!) that you can check out at http://www.dentalmuseum.umaryland.edu/ where you can check out a model of George Washington’s false teeth. The website Collect Medical Antiques, http://www.collectmedicalantiques.com/dentistry.html, includes some pictures of old dentistry instruments and some historical background.

Yes, if those websites won't give you an appreication for your ancestors...well I don't know what to say!