History

• Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs started the civilization
• Mayans:

  • Mesoamerican Civilization from Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua)
  • Into facial modification, putting bands on babies' heads to adapt head shape genetically
  • Cultic practices: ornamentation of teeth, bore holes in teeth, use of inlays with various materials like jadeite, iron pyrite, and quartz
  • Used dental implants by embedding shells into bone
• Incas:

  • From South America (Peru, Chile)
  • Dental practices included mutilation by filing, inlaying with gold, and insertion of hammered gold into cavities
  • Operative dentistry techniques like excision of carious material with a burning stick
  • Periodontology using balsam of Peru to treat gingival diseases
  • Oral surgery techniques like gingivectomy and tooth extraction
• Aztecs:

  • From North America
  • Operative dentistry practices included treating tooth worms with hot chili, filling cavities with snail shells, sea salt, and tlatcacaotl
  • Ritualistic practices like using herbs and botanicals for mouth diseases
  • Oral hygiene practices using toothpicks and chewing unsweetened gum called chicle
  • Oral surgery techniques like suturing wounds with hair
• Indians:

  • From native America (North America)
  • Diet prevented dental caries but caused attrition due to gritty and unprocessed food
  • Oral hygiene practices included chewing tobacco mixed with mussel shells and lime
  • Operative dentistry using Zanthoxylum Americanum bark for pain relief
  • Oral surgery techniques like tying teeth with buckskin and pulling them out
  • Beliefs included rituals for toothache relief and shamanistic practices
• Halakhah serves as a rule book and is the primary source of the Jewish religious law
• Talmud contains history and fables
• Women are NOT allowed to go out wearing a gold tooth during the sabbath

  • If it falls, she will have to put it back, and it is considered work
  • Women are also not allowed to go out with artificial tooth
  • They are allowed to go out leaving peppercorn in their mouth as breath freshener
• Haggada provides ethical teachings
• Mishna consists of oral traditions
• Gemara represents oral law and believes that our body is like a house, emphasizing the importance of keeping the mouth clean since it is the entrance
• Nagra craftsmen are Hebrew dental technicians who make artificial teeth and crowns
• Beliefs related to dental care:

  • Too much vinegar is harmful to teeth
  • Vinegar and wine can be used for gum problems
  • Leeks are harmful to teeth
  • Unripe grapes make teeth blunt
  • Sour fruit juice is helpful for toothache
  • Spleen chewed and spat out is good for teeth
  • A man who whitens the teeth of another is considered better than the one who gives milk
  • Extractions endanger the eyes
  • If toothache occurs during the sabbath, it should be treated by an expert (physician) to be valid and not a violation of the Sabbath
• Imhotep is associated with the Great Step Pyramid and is known for his scholarship in astronomy, literature, art, and medicine
• Egyptian dentition is prone to attrition, and Pharaohs suffer from malocclusion
• Oral hygiene in ancient Egypt was not valued, leading to bone loss and calcular deposits in skulls

  • Inventor of toothpaste made of ash, myrrh, pumice stone, and sometimes eggshells
  • Used chewsticks as toothbrushes and prescribed pastes of cumin, incense, and onion
  • Oral surgery included boring a hole into the skull to release infection
  • Operative dentistry involved filling teeth, although the material used is unknown
  • Orthodontics included tooth splinting
• Achaean culture is related to chthonic religion, which pertains to the underworld
• Asclepions have cult centers and practice sacerdotal medicine based on the worship of Asclepius
• Hippocrates, known as the father of Medicine, postulated cardinal humors and wrote the Hippocratic Corpus, which includes writings on various aspects of health and illness, including dentistry
• Aristotle studied animal dentition, dental pathology, and noted that men have more teeth than women, and teeth continue to grow throughout one's lifetime
• Erasistratus and Herophilus were known for the first cadaver dissection and discussing the blood supply of teeth
• Theophrastus was involved in teeth shaving and teeth whitening
• Diocles recommended using fingers to rub teeth and gums with finely pulverized mint for cleaning teeth and listed various tooth cleansers made of materials like pumice, talc, emery, ground alabaster, coral powder, and iron rust
• Etruria, located in central Italy, practiced dentistry earlier than the Phoenicians and used orthodontics and prosthodontics techniques like tooth splinting and using human and animal teeth for replacements
• Roman medical beliefs included using hair from a crucified man, blood from a violently killed man, and urine for various cures

  • Dentistry beliefs included rituals like finding a frog during a full moon to relieve toothache and using tooth-cleaning powders and substances like nitrum for whitening
  • Upper-class Romans used elaborately decorated toothpicks made of metal, usually gold
• Roman physicians like Asclepiades and Celsus contributed to medical knowledge, treatments, and oral hygiene practices, including remedies for toothache and dental procedures like file smoothening and repositioning of teeth
• Saint Appollonia, the patron saint of Dentistry, suffered martyrdom in Alexandria, Egypt, by having all her teeth violently pulled out or shattered and was burned alive for her faith