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(1/12) THREAD 👇Contrary to popular belief, George Washington's dentures were not wooden. At his inauguration in 1789, he only had one tooth. John Greenwood—a dentist from New York—fashioned a set of dentures from ivory, and a mixture of cow & human teeth. [From @NYAMhistory] 
(2/12) Unsurprisingly, tooth loss was a common problem in the 18th century. Toothbrushes made of coarse horse hair often did more harm than good. This example belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, and is now housed at @ExploreWellcome.
(3/12) The wealthy might choose to have a “live” tooth implanted. The recipient had the rotten tooth removed before a selection of donors, who would then have their own healthy teeth extracted until the right size was found. Afterwards, it was affixed using a silver wire.
(4/12) Having a “live” tooth implanted was a costly endeavor. Compounding the problem was the fact that surgeons were unknowingly transmitting diseases like SYPHILIS into patrons’ mouths from infected donors. Because of this, a market for dentures soon arose.
(5/12) Early versions were made of ivory or animal bone, and incorporated the teeth of executed criminals or exhumed bodies. Although contraptions like this were cumbersome and painful to wear, there was a high demand for dentures during this time.
(6/12) To keep up with it, practitioners needed access to healthy teeth in large quantities. WATERLOO TEETH, as they became known, referred to any teeth stolen from the mouths of dead soldiers in the 19th century, and was a term employed during the Crimean & American Civil Wars.
(7/12) Body-snatchers followed armies into battle, and returned home with bagfuls of teeth which they then sold to dentists and surgeons for a very high premium.
(8/12) George Washington was acutely aware of his dental problems. Over the years, he kept several of his pulled teeth inside a locked desk drawer at @MountVernon (pictured here) to use later for a set of dentures.
(9/12) In a letter from 1782, Washington wrote to his distant cousin and the temporary manager of Mount Vernon, requesting that these teeth be sent to him in Newburgh, New York...
(10/12) "In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which stands in my study you will find two small (fore) teeth; which I beg of you to wrap up carefully, and send inclosed [sic] in your next letter to me. I am positive I left them there, or in the secret drawer in the locker...”
(11/12) According to Mount Vernon, some of the teeth used to make the dentures may have also come from Washington’s slaves - though the document is unclear. Sadly, this was not uncommon, and we must keep it in mind when contextualizing objects like this: mountvernon.org/george-washing…
(12/12) As ever, Twitter threads can be rather limiting. If you'd like to learn more about this subject, you can check out my YouTube Channel #UnderTheKnife: . Or find more on my IG page: instagram.com/drlindseyfitzh…
Hey @joerogan, this thread might interest you - we touched on early dental practices on JRE but there wasn't time to delve in this deep! People might be surprised to discover George Washington's teeth were not wooden. Far more disturbing than that!
Correction to my thread above 👆 This particular set of George Washington's dentures in Tweet #1 is located at @MountVernon, not at @NYAMHistory - which houses a different set (also belonging to Washington, pictured here). There are several still in existence! Apologies.
