The Emergence of Dental Care in Prehistoric Peoples

When did we start caring about teeth? Way before you likely thought. The first archaeological evidence we have of dentistry is a 14000-year-old infected tooth from Italy; it was partially cleared out using a tool made of volcanic glass stone. Some archaeologists even posit that other evidence in Europe suggests Neanderthals practiced simple dentistry even earlier.

The next solid example of dentistry we have is from a 7000-year-old Sumerian text describing how worms in the teeth cause decay and cavities. 11 teeth from the Indus Valley, dating back about 6500 years, have evidence of drilling.

In Egypt, we have the first evidence of a dentist being an actual professional: a tomb inscription from 4600 years ago that says “the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians”. A millennia later, an Egyptian scientific text discusses maladies of the mouth and remedies for toothaches.

2400-2300 years ago, Greek philosophers write about specific dental practices like stabilizing and wiring a broken jaw, and extracting damaged teeth. We know the Greeks stuffed a mustard and herb mixture into cavities to kill infections (which didn’t work), and that the Romans had medicines for different dental conditions. In fact, by 1700 years ago, the Etruscans in Italy had developed tooth crowns and fixed dental bridges.

This is not representative of which cultures were and were not concerned with dental care; hundreds of other cultures around the world, by 2000+ years ago, had some level of daily oral hygiene like swishing fluid or brushing teeth. A text from China that dates to 1500 years ago mentions a silver paste used for tooth fillings.

Historic Dentistry: Medieval Mistakes, Victorian Progress

So the Dark Ages came, and as with most other health and science technology in the Dark Ages, techniques in dentistry regressed, a lot. The 13^th century brought the advent of the barber-surgeon (think swigs of whiskey and iron pliers). And at the start of the 15^th century, France outlawed all barber-surgeon dental care that wasn’t tooth extractions.

The Germans tried to get things back on track in the 16^th century, with a German dentist writing the first medical book totally dedicated to the field of dentistry. Barber-surgeons were still the norm, but at least now they had a textbook. And at least now people had one, too, so they could practice proper oral hygiene and avoid those barbaric tooth extractions.

In the mid-18^th century, Pierre Fauchard, often called the Father of Modern Dentistry, published a comprehensive text about practices in dentistry and proper oral hygiene routines. He’s also the guy that figured out sugar is terrible for your teeth. It was at this time the US got its first actual medically-trained dentist, an immigrant from the UK.

By the time the Victorian Era rolls around, we’ve got an entire college of dentistry in Maryland, and the first ever private dental practice in Alabama. There were advances in filling technology, medical texts about dentistry, dental equipment like reclining chairs, dentures, and more. The American Dental Associated is founded in 1869, and by 1901, there was even a school of orthodontics here as well.

20^th Century Dentistry: A Race of Innovation & Advances in Technology

In just the first 10 years of the 20^th century, we see the first porcelain crown, the invention of Novocain, the first precision dental mold technique, and the publishing of Operative Dentistry. This text became the “bible” of dentistry for a solid 50 years afterwards.

In 1913, the first college for dental hygienists was formed, with the first woman receiving a dental hygiene license in 1917. The first implant crown was created in 1937, though it was made of vitallium, a man-made biocompatible metal.

In the ‘40’s, when water fluoridation became common practice across US local municipalities and rates of tooth decay plummeted, research and development in dental technology flourish:

• 1949: first dental bonding resin created
• 1950: first fluoride toothpastes on the market
• 1955: acid-etching for filling adhesion is invented
• 1958: fully-reclining dental chair on the market
• 1962: new resin material for dental bonding created, still used today
• 1980: development of osseointegration techniques for dental implants
• 1990: proliferation of teeth whitening and dental bonding techniques spurs the creation of the cosmetic dentistry field

21^st Century Dentistry: Where is General Dentistry at Now?

It’s safe to say that the heavy lifting in dental technology has already been done. And what that’s allowed us to do in the last 30 years, as a field, is constantly tweak, change and improve standard dental procedures. At our family dentist practice, that includes our advanced teeth whitening procedures and implant-anchored dentures.

Even more invasive processes like implants and implant crowns have advanced to the point where you can’t tell an implant crown from a real tooth, whether it’s in your mouth or someone else’s! Modern advances in dental technology has meant that our family practice can offer comprehensive dental care well farther into patients’ old age than before, improving their smiles and quality of life. What’s next in dentistry? We can’t wait to find out.