ANCIENT DENTISTRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 233, 30 March 1912, Page 9

ANCIENT DENTISTRY

SPECIMENS OF SIXTH CENTURY B.C. '' *$ Dentistry iB supposed to be among the 1 ' J pecuilar triumphs of oui; own civilisation, but. here we find the journal of the American Medical Association speak- i f ing with positive enthusiasm of the dentistry of antiquity. The oldest of all is a Phoenician, specimen of bridgework • found in a tomb near Sidon in which ! the teeth are united by gold wire, two of the teeth having been transplanted. In the museum of Corrteto are a number of fine specimens of dental work of the sixth and seventh centuries before Christ. They consist of bridgework made of riveted bands of metal. One of them supported three artificial teeth,' two of them being made from a single ox tooth grooved to imitate human teeth. It will lie remembered that Martial speaks of an old woman who was so frightened that her teeth fell out, and he compares the fine teeth of one woman -i with the poor teeth of another, and ex- f plains that the former had purchased *) her dental equipment, while the latter ; still depended upon nature. The Romans were very particular about their teeth. They had them filled when necessary and were experts in the making of washes, dentriiices, and the > "