The Excruciating History of Dentistry Toothsome Tales & Oral Oddities from Babylon to Braces

by Wynbrandt, James

• ISBN13: 9780312263195
• ISBN10: 0312263198
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-17
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

For those on both sides of the dreaded dentist's chair, James Wynbrandt has written a witty, colorful, and richly informative history of the art and science of dentistry.To all of those dental patients whose whine rises in tandem with that of the drill, take note: You would do well to stifle your terror and instead offer thanks to Apollonia, the patron saint of toothache sufferers, that you face only fleeting discomfort rather than the disfiguring distress, or slow agonizing death oft meted out by dental-care providers of the past.The transition from yesterday's ignorance, misapprehension, and superstition to the enlightened and nerve-deadened protocols of today has been a long, slow, and very painful process.For example, did you know that: *Among the toothache remedies favored by Pierre Fauchard, the father of dentistry, was rinsing the mouth liberally with one's own urine. *George Washington never had wooden teeth.However, his chronic dental problems may have impacted the outcome of the American Revolution. *Soldiers in the Civil War needed at least two opposing front teeth to rip open powder envelopes.Some men called up for induction had their front teeth extracted to avoid service. *Teeth were harvested from as many as fifty thousand corpses after the Battle of Waterloo, a huge crop later used for dentures and transplants that became known as "Waterloo Teeth."

Author Biography

James Wynbrandt lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(2)
Demons, Worms, and Excess Fluids
Suspected Causes and Horrific Cures of the Ancient World's Dental Problems	3	(24)
From Swindling Charlatans to Bleeding Barbers
The Incompetence of Tooth-Drawers Is Equalled by the Barbarity of Barber-Surgeons	27	(25)
Is There a Dentatore in the House?
Professional Dentistry Emerges in the Glow of the Enlightenment and a Gargle of Urine	52	(25)
The American Experience
Dental Care Comes to the New World, Sparking a Revolution	77	(21)
A New Era in Teethpulling
Anesthetics Usher in Painless Dentistry	98	(21)
Licensed to Drill
Dentistry in the Era of Robber Barons and Reformers	119	(29)
False Promise
Dentures and Dental Prosthetics through History	148	(25)
X-Ray Martyrs
Toxic, Addictive, Deadly, and Disgusting Substances Turned on the Teeth	173	(21)
Disposable Income and Permanent Teeth
A Century of Progress Builds a Dental Bridge to a New Era of Oral Care	194	(23)
The Million-Dollar Smile
Dentistry, Hollywood, and Oral Image-Making	217	(18)
Selected Bibliography	235	(4)
Index	239

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