Historical Fun Prostho Facts!
1. About 4,000 years ago in China, people carved bamboo into tooth-shaped pegs, and placed them into their mouth to complete their smile. By 1500 BC, the Egyptians were using gold and silver wire to thread artificial teeth together. These early versions of dental bridges were then secured to adjacent teeth to fill in gaps and spaces.
2. People from the Mayan civilization were thought to have developed a very early form of dental implants. To replace missing teeth, they would push rocks, bone fragments or pieces of seashells into the gums. It’s believed that the new materials were able to fuse to people’s jawbones, making them a permanent replacement.
3. In England of the 1800’s, people who had false teeth, ate in their bedrooms before events and gathering at the table. This protected them from being embarrassed by their teeth falling out.
4. Dentures were common wedding gifts in the British Isles! Many people expected to lose all their teeth and had them extracted at an early age.
5. Despite fastidiously brushing his teeth with tooth powder, scraping his tongue of bacteria, and using mouthwash, George Washington lost his first tooth at age 24 and was wearing a full set of dentures by age 57.
Throughout his life, Washington employed numerous full and partial dentures that were constructed of materials including human, and probably cow and horse teeth, ivory (possibly elephant), lead-tin alloy, copper alloy (possibly brass), and silver alloy.
Current Fun Prostho Facts!
6. As many as 65-90% of edentulous patients are satisfied with their complete dentures according to published studies. Life expectancy is on the rise, and the aging population has increased. Hence the need for complete dentures is not likely to decline in the near future.
7. Shortened Dental Arch (SDA) concept is defined as a specific type of dentition with an intact anterior region and a reduction in the occluding pairs of posterior teeth, starting posteriorly. The SDA protocol decreases the emphasis on restorative treatments for the posterior regions of the mouth. It, thus, avoids the risk of over-treatment of the patient, while still providing a high standard of care and minimizing cost.
8. 48% of young adults have untagged themselves from a photo on Facebook because of their smile. Loss of teeth or damaged teeth can adversely affect the self-esteem of a person.
9.Statistics show that implant dentistry can actually be the highest production per hour procedure and have the greatest lifetime financial opportunity for your practice. Yet, only 50% of dentists perform this procedure.
10. Losing all teeth can increase the risk of obesity 1 and vice versa. Overweight people are 4.2 times more likely to have severe gum disease.
References
1. Meisel P, Holtfreter B, Völzke H, Kocher T. Sex Differences of Tooth Loss and Obesity on Systemic Markers of Inflammation. J Dent Res. 2014;93(8):774-779.
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