Dentistry may feel like a sleek, modern branch of medicine today, but its roots are tangled in a bizarre, unregulated past where people concocted all sorts of odd and often downright repulsive remedies for tooth woes. From barbers doubling as surgeons to concoctions that would make your stomach turn, the field’s early days were a wild frontier. Here, we count down 10 disgusting facts that expose the grimy side of dental history.
10 Disgusting Facts Unveiled
10 Ancient Romans Used Urine As Mouthwash
Ancient Romans actually swished human and animal urine in their mouths as a form of mouthwash. The practice was so commonplace that public urination stations were set up, allowing anyone to contribute to the communal supply. Even the state got involved, imposing taxes on those who collected and sold the liquid gold of oral hygiene.
Believe it or not, the stinky rinse wasn’t entirely without merit. Urine contains ammonia, the very agent that powers today’s household cleaners, and it acted as a primitive whitening agent. One Roman, Egnatius, boasted such dazzlingly white teeth that he grinned at every opportunity, prompting poet Cattulus to pen a scathing ode urging him to curb his perpetual smiling.
Cattulus lamented that Egnatius smiled even in court when verdicts went against defendants, and at funerals while mourners wept. He declared that excessive smiling was itself a disease, urging the gleeful Roman to stop, noting that “there’s nothing more foolish than foolishly smiling.”
9 Dentures Were Made From Real Teeth
Modern dentures are crafted from synthetic materials, but centuries ago, artisans fashioned them from genuine human teeth. In 2016, archaeologists in Lucca, Italy, uncovered a five‑tooth denture assembled from the teeth of several individuals, wired together with an alloy of gold, silver, and copper.
Experts date the creation to somewhere between the 14th and 17th centuries. Similar human‑tooth dentures have appeared in Egyptian tombs, and records show that both the Etruscans and Romans experimented with the macabre practice.
By the 1400s, denture making had become a modest industry. The poor would sell their own teeth to those in need, while grave‑robbers pilfered the dead’s chompers for the same purpose.
The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 sparked a grim surge in demand. Soldiers, locals, and scavengers combed the battlefield, extracting teeth—except the stubborn molars—from fallen combatants. These “Waterloo teeth” were shipped to Britain and fetched a small fortune.
The term later broadened to describe any teeth harvested from battlefields, a practice that also appeared during the Crimean War and the American Civil War. Though popular, human‑tooth dentures often rotted and fit poorly, proving that the gruesome method was far from ideal.
8 Ancient Toothpaste
The earliest toothbrushes emerged between 3500 and 3000 BC, when Egyptians and Babylonians frayed the ends of twigs to scrub their teeth. Remarkably, toothpaste predates the brush by roughly two millennia; ancient Egyptians are believed to have concocted the first paste around 5000 BC.
Across the ancient world—Romans, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians—people fashioned their own tooth‑cleansing powders. Ingredients were wildly eclectic: burned eggshells, ash from ox hooves, volcanic pumice, and even charcoal, bark, and various flavorings. The Greeks and Romans also tossed in bone fragments and crushed oyster shells.
By the 1800s, toothpaste formulas included soap, later replaced in 1945 by modern surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate, marking the evolution from gritty pastes to the smooth gels we know today.
7 Barbers Used To Be Dentists
Centuries ago, stepping into a barbershop could land you a haircut, a shave, and even a tooth extraction or minor surgery—all under one roof. Barbers doubled as surgeons because they owned the sharp tools required for cutting and pulling teeth.
Physicians of the era deemed surgery beneath their status, delegating it to barbers who proudly adopted the moniker “barber‑surgeon” to market their expanded skill set.
Despite handling extractions, barbers rarely embraced the preventive side of oral health. Dentistry, as a distinct discipline, didn’t truly emerge until the 1800s, when the three trades finally split into separate professions.
6 Nobody Brushed Their Teeth For Thousands Of Years
It may sound shocking, but ancient peoples maintained surprisingly healthy dentition without ever brushing. Their secret weapon was diet: natural, unprocessed foods free from modern chemicals and preservatives, packed with vitamins and minerals.
Fiber‑rich meals acted like nature’s dental floss, scrubbing away plaque and food particles, keeping cavities at bay for millennia before the toothbrush ever existed.
5 Fillings Possibly Caused Teeth To Explode
In 19th‑century Pennsylvania, a dentist recorded three baffling cases where teeth literally exploded. The first, in 1817, involved Reverend D.A., who endured excruciating pain until his tooth burst open like a firecracker, instantly relieving his agony.
Thirteen years later, Mrs. Letitia D. suffered a similar explosive incident after a severe ache, and Mrs. Anna P.A. experienced the same fate in 1855.
The most dramatic case arrived in 1871: an unnamed woman’s tooth detonated so loudly that she fell to the floor and was temporarily deaf.These reports continued sporadically until the 1920s, after which the phenomenon vanished.
Researchers suspect the culprit was the metallic alloy used for fillings—mixes of lead, silver, and tin that could form a tiny electrochemical cell inside the tooth, essentially a miniature battery.
Hydrogen gas, a by‑product of such reactions, may have accumulated, eventually igniting via a spark or a cigarette, causing the dramatic explosion. Some scholars, however, question this theory, noting a lack of definitive evidence that the victims even had fillings.
4 Black, Rotting Teeth Were Considered Fashionable In England
During Tudor England, sugar was a luxury reserved for the aristocracy, and its over‑indulgence led to rampant tooth decay among the elite. Even Queen Elizabeth I reportedly suffered from blackened, rotting teeth, requiring at least one extraction.
Contemporary accounts suggest her dental woes made her speech difficult, prompting a bishop to pull his own tooth to demonstrate that the pain could be endured.
Blackened teeth became a status symbol for the wealthy, a visible sign of indulgence. The lower classes began artificially blackening their own teeth, hoping to mimic the aristocracy’s “fashionable” decay.
3 Black Teeth Were Also Considered Fashionable In Japan
Across the globe, blackened teeth were also a mark of beauty. In Japan, the custom—known as Ohaguro—reached its zenith between the 8th and 12th centuries, especially among aristocrats who painted their faces white, making their natural yellowish teeth stand out.
Samurai and court ladies dyed their teeth black to signal loyalty and status. The dye, a bitter concoction, was consumed over several days, often spiced to mask its harsh taste.
The practice spread to the lower classes, who adopted it to appear affluent. It persisted until 1870, when government reforms outlawed the tradition in an effort to modernize the nation.
2 Dead Mice To Treat Toothaches
When toothaches struck ancient Egyptians, they turned to a grim remedy: the ground remains of dead mice. The powdered mouse was mixed with other ingredients and applied directly to the aching tooth.
Elizabethan England also revered the dead‑mouse concoction, using it to treat ailments ranging from whooping cough to smallpox, and even incorporating the critters into culinary experiments like pies.
1 The Dental Pelican
The “dental pelican,” a grotesque extraction device from the 1300s, earned its name because its claw resembled a pelican’s beak. Barbers employed it to yank out decayed teeth, often resulting in severe gum damage, bleeding, and disfigured jaws.
Patients were seated on low chairs, their heads tilted back and secured between the barber’s thighs. The pelican’s claw clamped onto the offending tooth, and the barber pulled with all his might.
Even the most careful operators could not prevent injuries; the device’s brutal force made it the only viable option for tooth removal at the time.
Thankfully, this barbaric apparatus has long vanished from modern dental practice, sparing us all from its terrifying grip.