While the art and science of cosmetic dentistry, or prosthodontics has only been around for about 70 years or so and wasn’t widespread until the 1960s, one could legitimately say that cosmetic dentists have been around for hundreds, or even thousands of years. As long as humans have walked the planet, people have been losing teeth due to disease, neglect and accidents. Archaeological evidence indicates that people have been wearing dentures in some form for millennia.
The region of northern Italy known today as Tuscany was once the home to a remarkable people known as the Etruscans. Ultimately, they were assimilated by the militaristic culture of Rome, but some anthropologists suggest that modern Italians are more like the Etruscans than Romans. One thing that archaeologists have discovered about Etruscans however is that they were among the first people to make use of what we today would call cosmetic dentists, who fitted them with dentures make from the teeth of animals or dead cadavers!
Reports of “cosmetic dentists” – virtually all of whom were actually barbers at the time – fitting clients for dentures \surface around the year 1400, although it is likely that such prosthodontic devices had been used in Northern Europe prior to that time. Like those used by the Etruscans a some 1500 years earlier, these dentures could be taken from cadavers; alternatively, they could be carved from the bones of animals, or ivory from walrus tusks.
Although George Washington reputedly wore wooden dentures, porcelain became the choice of early cosmetic dentists about the time he became the first U.S. president; a patent was granted for such dentures in Britain around 1790. Unlike dentures made from organic materials, porcelain was resistant to rot and surprisingly durable.
Since then other materials used by cosmetic dentists for dentures have included various types of plastics and hard rubber. Today, the most common material for dentures is acrylic resin; it is the most durable material yet found for this purpose.
Patients who are considering being fitted for dentures by cosmetic dentists should understand that wearing such a synthetic prosthesis requires some adjustment, and no matter how carefully they are fitted, there is likely to be some discomfort. Cosmetic dentists today have many alternatives at their disposal today, including dental implants. Ask your family dentist for a referral to a qualified prosthodontist who can help determine whether or not you are a candidate for such alternatives.
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