Here ’s a weird slash of history that you’re able to really sink your tooth into . Back in the nineteenth one C , when dentistry was in its infancy and the overconsumption of sugar was causing in high spirits stratum of tooth disintegration , dentists found a creative but disgusting way to keep up with the need for denture : They used what are now called “ Waterloo Teeth . ”
After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 , spoiler , scavengers , and even surviving soldier began rip the tooth from utter soldier pass on on the field . They ’d sort them into sets , and sell them to dentists who would roil them , cut off their root , and shape them into denture , according to theBBC .
In an excellent article on Waterloo Teeth and the early account of British dental medicine , the BBC explicate that , in the early nineteenth century , denture made of human tooth were more popular than those made of other materials like porcelain and ivory . Human tooth were apparently considered more comfortable , more realistic , and soft to eat with . Thus , they were in gamey demand .
It ’s unclear , however , whether dental patients were aware that their dentures originated from the mouths of bushed soldiers . Dental historiographer Rachel Bairsto told the BBC that while the dentures made from soldiers ’ teeth are now know as “ Waterloo Teeth , " she ’s been unable to receive the phrase in nineteenth 100 texts — implying that patients may not have known where their new chompers came from .
In addition to Waterloo Teeth , Bairsto says many of the teeth used in dentures came from grave robber . Apparently , most tooth doctor did n’t ask interrogation about the origins of their tooth supply . After all , it was an era before dentistry rise into a genuine aesculapian skill , when wigmakers , ivory turner , and blacksmiths would do dental employment , and you could get your plate tightened by your local jeweller . As Bairsto puts it , in the early nineteenth hundred “ Everyone was dabbling in dentistry . ”
[ h / t : BBC ]
