{"id":850,"date":"2016-08-10T17:03:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/would-you-let-a-barber-pull-your-teeth-a-brief-history-of-dentistry\/"},"modified":"2023-07-18T12:40:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T12:40:58","slug":"would-you-let-a-barber-pull-your-teeth-a-brief-history-of-dentistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/dental-blog\/brief-history-of-dentistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Would You Let a Barber Pull Your Teeth? A Brief History of Dentistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hesy-Re would be amazed, to say the least.<\/strong>\u00a0If his name doesn\u2019t ring a bell, it\u2019s because he lived around 2600 BC, and is commonly considered the\u00a0first dentist.<\/strong>\u00a0Hesy-Re was an Egyptian scribe. The inscription on his tombstone sang his praises as \u201cthe greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.\u201d Don\u2019t forget the ancient Sumerians–they made contributions to the dental field by\u00a0documenting some of the first cases of tooth decay<\/a>\u00a0\u2026 although we have to deduct points because they thought cavities were caused by creatures called \u201ctooth worms.\u201d Could you imagine Hesy-Re or the ancient Sumerians walking into a modern dental office? Even in the last ten years,\u00a0scientific advancements have taken dentistry to a whole new level<\/strong>. Intraoral scanning allows dentists to configure the exact shape of your teeth and make accurate impressions without the need for \u201cgoop.\u201d Three-dimensional printing<\/a> allows dental trays to be created on site, without the need to send them out to a lab.\u00a0To truly appreciate what we have, it\u2019s helpful to look at where we\u2019ve been:\"brief-history-of-dentistry\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another reason it\u2019s called the \u201cDark Ages\u201d<\/h2>\n

Dentists weren\u2019t called dentists in 13th century France.<\/a>\u00a0If you wanted to practice your profession, you\u2019d need to head to the\u00a0Guild of Barbers.<\/strong> There were two types of barbers: surgeons who performed complex operations, and lay barbers who practiced bleeding and painless tooth extractions<\/a>\u2026 and could also give you a shave and a haircut. Toothache pain was relieved by herbal plant products, beer and wine. Monasteries and private gardens were full of various plants that served as remedies, gleaned from knowledge exported from Eastern and Arabic cultures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bridges are coming!\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cListen my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere\u2026\u201d Longfellow\u2019s poem celebrating this American patriot leaves out some information you may find interesting. In addition to being an excellent silversmith,\u00a0Revere also offered services as a dentist<\/strong>, as evidenced in a Boston newspaper around 1768. Silversmiths like Revere frequently created bridges and other dental appliances. In addition, you could say Revere was one of the first American \u201cCSI\u2019s.\u201d He identified the body of a friend who died in battle by recognizing the dental bridge he created for him.\u00a0It\u2019s the first known case of dental forensics.<\/a><\/p>\n

Other landmark achievements<\/h2>\n

Pain-free dentistry had its infancy thanks to William Morton, who first successfully used ether anesthesia for surgery in 1846. (We\u2019d have to wait another 59 years for Novocain, invented by German chemist Alfred Einhorn.) The drills used in dental practice were created by James Morrison in 1871. This meant diseased enamel could be easily removed and then filled. The 20th century ushered dentistry into the modern era, including techniques for the osseointegration of\u00a0dental implants<\/a>. This is a process by which bone attaches itself to the implant.<\/p>\n

That was then, this is now<\/h2>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s not so much the technological innovations that have made such a difference—after all, our lives are filled with better and faster technology every day—but the speed at which these technologies are utilized by local dentists. In 1950, it may have taken 10 or 20 years for a new technology to take hold and find its roots in your neighborhood dental office. Now, it doesn\u2019t take long for innovations to quickly arrive in the\u00a0modern dental office.<\/a>\u00a0One of the latest milestones is the use of computer-aided manufacturing and design (CAM\/CAD). As speed and precision in this technology has advanced over the last two decades, we now have substantial improvements to the point where\u00a0dentists can make precise, high-quality restorations faster and more accurately<\/strong>. In many instances, this means\u00a0producing them in-house<\/a>\u00a0without needing to send them to the lab. Three \u2013 dimensional printing has enabled dentist to offer services for a much lower cost. It\u2019s wonderful that technology has made so much dental advancement possible. Where are we headed next?\u00a0We can\u2019t wait to find out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Sources<\/strong>\u00a0American Dental Association.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cHistory of Dentistry Timeline: Ancient Origins.\u201d Online. Koenigsberg, DDS and Mason Kostinsky. \u201cTech Revolution in Dentistry \u2013 Are You Ready?\u201d\u00a0Dental Economics.<\/a>\u00a0Online. Potincy, Daniel J. et. al. \u201cCAD\/CAM In-office Technology.\u201d The Journal of the American Dental Association, Volume 141, 5S – 9S. Wisby, Gary. \u201cPain and Suffering of Toothache in the Dark Ages of Dentistry.\u201d\u00a0UIC News Center: University of Illinois.<\/a>\u00a0Online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hesy-Re would be amazed, to say the least.\u00a0If his name doesn\u2019t ring a bell, it\u2019s because he lived around 2600 BC, and is commonly considered the\u00a0first dentist.\u00a0Hesy-Re was an Egyptian scribe. The inscription on his tombstone sang his praises as \u201cthe greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.\u201d Don\u2019t forget the ancient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4844,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions\/4844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}