23 Mar Ancient Dentistry
Anyone know how old dentistry is? Anyone? Bueller? According to seeker.com, recent evidence suggests that dentistry started back at least 14,000 years ago! That is a lot of legacy to live up to. But how was dentistry back then? Did they even have Biomimetic Dentistry Prescott, Arizona? Surely, dentistry was not as enjoyable as it is today? Without further adieu, here are some things you might not have known about the ancient art of dentistry!
The first “dentist” we know of lived around 2,600 B.C. This is according to the American Dental Association which states that his name was Hesy-Re, an Egyptian. We know he was a dental practitioner by the engravings on his tomb which reads, “the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.” You go Hesy!
You might have wondered how it was possible for society to function before the wonderful combination of the toothbrush and toothpaste was invented. The earliest “toothbrush” we know of dates back to around 3,000 B.C. according to bessdds.com. Unfortunately for society at large, no toothpaste accompanied it until around 2,000 years ago as far as we know. Early toothpaste from the Romans was made out of… can you guess it? Human urine. And yes there was a mouthwash made out of it, too. “Upper-class Roman women paid dearly for Portuguese urine, the most highly prized, since it was alleged to be the strongest on the continent.” It’s important to remember history folks! Okay, okay time to move on.
Grills might have seemed like the hot, new thing when they were growing in popularity but it turns out they are actually more of an old fashion. National Geographic states that Mayans started the bling thing around 2,500 B.C. Grills were so five millenniums ago!
There are likely a lot of intriguing facts about ancient dentistry that we have not yet discovered–some of them might be better left that way as we all know today. Now you have to ask yourself, if you lived all the way back then without the modern cleaning products, could you use that era’s toothpaste and mouthwash? Could you survive never cleaning your teeth!? There was certainly no Biomimetic Dentistry Prescott, Arizona. Happy brushing!