PAWTUXET RANGER COMPANY HISTORY
Each month we will attempt to highlight some of the fascinating history of our company and colonial times. Some of it can be proven and well..... some of it may be history developed around a campfire. But anyway, we will help you learn more about our company and how we became what we are today.
Spring 2008: Dental Wisdom
Our
18th century ancestors may never have seen a dentist, although for us
Rangers the need to have two opposing teeth was essential for biting off the
cartridge to load our muskets. The dental specialty is a 19th century
invention; some of us wish it had been delayed until the 22nd
century. Back in the 18th century, patients hoped that the pain would
just go away or that the offending tooth would just fall out.
As
we know, a painful tooth brings great suffering, enough to force us to go see a
dentist.
In
the 18th century the theory was that each tooth housed a worm. The
worm was usually content with what you ate. If not, the worm bore a hole in your
tooth to get food. The evidence of a hole in your tooth supported the theory.
Some enterprising “tooth pullers” or surgeons hammered a thin strip of gold,
pushed it into the hole and heated the metal. These were the first gold
fillings. Before
he did this, he would take a probe, heat it and stick it into the hole to kill
the worm. If
the patient objected to this procedure, the tooth would be pulled either with an
instrument called a tooth key which went into the gum and then was yanked or
with dental forceps which look a lot like a pair of pliers.
Brushing
your teeth was rare. You might scrape them, occasionally, with a flattened twig
or rub them with a piece of burnt toast or ash from the fire.
Knowing
this we can be a bit more respectful of our modern dentists and grateful for
Crest Toothpaste.
Submitted by Richard Kennedy, LT
Barber - Surgeon
If you'd like
to learn more please contact the Pawtuxet Rangers by phone at 785-1774 or
by email.
TOOTH KEY