The First False Teeth Were Made By Whom?

The missing teeth does not impart good looking to anyone. it interferes seriously with eating and chewing. Man decided long ago, that on losing natural teeth for one reason or another, the replacement should be undertaken. The substitution of natural teeth with artificial teeth is called “prosthetics”.

With the moving out of natural teeth; bridgework or dentures offer the choice of replacement. In bridgework the load of false teeth is born by our natural teeth on either side of the gap. The bridge fits on these natural teeth. In the case of denture, the false teeth are held in place by resting them on the gum and other parts of the mouth under the gum.

Is it not astonishing that bridges with false teeth were made 3000 years ago by the Etruscans, they worked with gold! Dentures; including ‘complete’ dentures for people, left with no teeth, have been made for about three centuries.

The problem in first place either for bridgework or dentures before making is how to hold them in the correct place in the mouth, and how to make the ‘base plate material’. This is the material that holds the teeth on to it. Modern dentistry has solved both the questions so nicely that the people with false teeth can eat, and chew as well as any one and the false teeth feel light and very natural in the mouth.

What about, and where from to obtain the false teeth? In early times the false teeth were made from ivory, bone, and hippopotamus tooth! Sometimes the entire bridge or denture was carved out from the same material. It used to be as such only one piece that fitted’` into the mouth. Later on, individual human teeth or the teeth of various animals, especially the sheep were used. These were mounted on a gold or ivory base.

By the end of 18th century, teeth were made of porcelain and soon individual porcelain teeth were mounted on gold or platinumbases. The material used for the artificial teeth is the same porcelain which is used for other fine works. The texture is fine and somewhat translucent had have great strength.

About 100 years back the false teeth began to be designed and harmonized with the shape of the individual face. Now the false teeth are matched to natural teeth, so closely in colour and shape that one can hardly tell them apart.