ANCIENT AND MODERN DENTISTRY 



By C. EDWARD WALLIS, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., L.D.S. 



Though there is evidence in abundance that prehistoric man 

 suffered from dental disease, the complaint from which he 

 suffered most appears to have been the now fashionable 

 " pyorrhoea " and not dental decay, or " caries," as it is technically 

 known. 



This disease of "pyorrhoea" is characterised by a chronic 

 inflammation of the gums and bone (alveolus) around one or 

 more teeth, which sooner or later leads to their loosening and 

 ultimate loss. 



When on account of this disease a tooth became so loose as 

 to be a nuisance, its removal or extraction must have appeared 

 to primaeval man an obvious means of cure, pyorrhoea, in all 

 probability, thus leading the way to one of the earliest surgical 

 operations— namely, the extraction of a loose tooth. 



From that early beginning when the finger and thumb were 

 made to serve as convenient extracting appliances, an infinite 

 variety of instruments has been devised for the purpose of 

 grasping or digging out such teeth as ache or are otherwise an 

 annoyance to their possessors. 



On an ancient vase (fig. i) we see the portrayal of such an 

 operation very clearly shown, and in fig. 2 we see a drawing of 

 ancient Greek dental appliances now preserved in the Archaeo- 

 logical Museum at Athens. 



The high state of culture of the ancient Greeks, together 

 with their knowledge of the healing art, must soon have directed 

 attention to diseases of the teeth, and Cicero tells us that 

 " extraction " was first recommended about the year 1300 b.c. by 

 a famous physician named Asklepios, a descendant of the still 

 more famous " ^Esculapius," familiar to many by the picture in 

 the Tate Gallery described as " A Visit to yEsculapius." 



About 600 b.c. Solon, who was one of the seven wise men 

 of ancient Greece, noticed that the first set of teeth commenced 



to be replaced by a second set at about the age of seven years. 



500 



