ANCIENT DENTISTRY.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 11 September 1912, Page 3

ANCIENT DENTISTRY.

Dentistry is often supposed to be among the peculiar triumphs of our own civilisation, but the dentistry of antiquity was not one whit inferior to that of to-day. The oldest example of all is a Phoenician specimen of bridgework found in a tomb near Sidon, in which tEe teeth are united by gold wire, two of the teeth having been transplanted. In the museum of Corneto are a number of fine specimens of dental work of the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. They consist of bridgework made by 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. Martial speaks of an o!3 woman who was S o frightened that her teeth fell out, and elsewhere fie compares the fine teeth of one woman with the poor teeth of another, and explains that the former had purchased 'her dental equipment while the latter still depended on Nature. The Romans were very particular about their teeth. They had them filled when necessary and were experts in the making of washes and dentifrices. Horace, in one of his satires, also refers to false teeth, and if we remember rightly, in very ungallant circumstances.