Medieval Dentistry

A couple of weeks ago I broke a tooth, setting off a series of visits to my dentist. This, of course, led me to wonder about the state of dentistry in the Middle Ages -- especially while I was stuck in the chair with my mouth open (and isn't that a pretty sight?). When I got home, woozy and numb, I opened a few books to do a little research. Then the painkillers caught up with me, and when I woke up again, I did a little research.

Of course, there is no comparison between medieval methods and today's modern dental advances -- no matter how often people liken their treatment (or mistreatment) by their modern D.D.S. as a "medieval torture." But medieval teeth may not have been as bad as you might imagine. No, they had no toothbrushes, but, depending on the time and place, they did have dental floss, mouthwash, chewing sticks, tooth-scrapers, and soft cloths to polish their teeth with. There were also medieval versions of dentists, who extracted teeth, filled cavities, made dentures and even fixed facial fractures.

Today, refined sugar is a tooth's mortal enemy, and there wasn't much to be had in the Middle Ages, even among the wealthy. However, the nobility did have a much greater variety of foods to get stuck in their teeth. And, of course, they could afford the most recent dental advances, too. Peasants, on the other hand, had a limited diet that consisted largely of coarse grains. They had to chew harder and longer, which was actually good for their teeth, but the grains could be so hard that continued consumption could wear the teeth down considerably. Still, the popular fiction version of black-toothed, gap-toothed medieval folk is evidently no more accurate than most of the nonsense the unlearned like to perpetuate about the Middle Ages.

Find out more about medieval dentistry in these resources compiled by your Guide. And don't forget to floss!