Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-28
TEETH IN LOVE AND WAR.
Unwritton Hiatory OF George Washing
tom
From tho Boston Globe.

raEucneaS IS possesses, rom us praCLlce
not being confined to any one portion Of
the human frame. This lis not, as VIII be
seen, the case with dentistry. What man
can listen to tales OF dentistry without
an instructive sbudderf lie VIII listen
with comparative complacency to
graphic account OF the extraction of a
mmor. and vet have cold chills run down
bis aaoh at the mere mention OF a Jootl-
pulling. Tell q story something Ike the
follow and see what eject 1t viii nave
'"Y1u know Brown Well, he's had
terrible time with bis teeth. His dentist
Told aim be must have three mOlars, two
incIso.s and four blcuspids extracted and
hJe others filed. The dentist was little
hard up, you See, and knew that Brown
had money. " ell, in extracting one OF
rAe m0!ars he broke Browns jaw and
slightly fractured his alyeOlus, thereby
forcing one of the iucisOrs through the
cbeek-bOue. Brown bore this with COM
mendable fOrtItu0e; but that wasn't all.
III cutting away q canine for Cling the
dentistencOuntered live and very active
nerve, which be had supposed dead, and
when the cold steel struck it Brown went
crazy, and IL took four men 10 hold him."
II. at this iuncture, your nearer does not
turn pale. grit his teeth, and utter some
exclamation OK pity, he has no pity IN his
soul. Indeed, 10 may well be said: "A
touch Of tO0thache makes the whole world
akin"
Its a well-established fact that teeth
We're extracted, and dental operations
performed by means OF Instruments, hong
before toe Christian era see works Of
HppOcrates and Arist0tle), and it is
worthy OF note that Heracidus Of
Tarentum, Hersphilus aud Brasistratus
were recorded as dental operators as
early as 800 b. e.. But IL is Ia the works
of CELSIUS, who 1ouriehed about 100 b.
c., that the first explicit direction for
extracting teeth appear. 10 may be well
10 state, at this point, painful TACT not
generally known: George Washing
ton wore false Il. th. John Greenwood,
who was at The battles of Bunker Hill
and Trenton, nd subsequently practised
dentistry, constructed several sets for
him, one Of which is, or was quite re-
Gently, ia possession Os Dir. John Allen Of
New York. TO is also VOucned for on
good authority that Or. Greenwood for
many years wore Georges last natural
tooth as a watch charm. Shades OF his
tory, that g tooth Of the father Of his coun-
try should dangle at the fob of an itinerant
tooth-pullerl 1t does not make II any the
less startling 10 remember that that very
tooth assisted George in pronouncing
those er-tO-be-lOrgOtten words: 81
cannot teH a lie, father; ] did il with my
little hatchet." The thought is pregnant
with sen timent.
Before the custom Of manufacturing
teeth FROM porcelain became general, hui
man teeth were held in highest estimation
for supplying deficiencies. The Oldest
method OF keeping them in place was 20
tie them with hgatures OF gold or silver
7al.i no ce nj oh thread 9 a
silkw0Tm gut. AS late as 1854 Nj. lie
Nayeur, a denNat, advertised ma Phila-
delphia paper to pay IWO guiseas each for
sound teeth, to be obtained from "perrOns
disposed to sell their front teeth, or any
OF them" Imagine what complications
might result from such custom. Jones,
Brown, Smith and Robinson are neigh
bors. Jones is rich, his neighbors poor. He
trades on their necessities, gets corner
jn teeth, and smiles cOmplacentlv at the
world with four Brown mOlars, five Smith
1ncisOrs, and three Robinson bicuspidsl
1t viii easily be seen that something Of
tins kiud might cause much feeling in
community. But what rich legacy
man might leave If he died early in life!
II is easy TO imagine hearing remark like
this: Brown did not leave much except
his teeth; but they say they were in g00d
marketable condition. His wife gets the
molars, aud the others are divided among
his three children" Or something like
this: eThere's young Robinson. Three
years ago he had as fine set Of teeth as
any young man IN town, and now he's
cumming It. Took TO gambling, you
know, and they went, one after the other. :"
Or: 'Smith took 10 drink, and now he
hasn't a tooth in his head"
We would mention, casually, to any
one DESTROYS Of adopting this fine old GUS
q n
that can be obtained at the old rate; and
we might do a little better than that il
called for this week.
In this connection true incident may
not be out of place. In a well-known
hotel In the western part OF the State
there boarded last summer young man
who was afflicted with false teeth. one
evening he started up stairs, carrying a
lighted kerosene lamp, and while passing
through one OF the entries stumbled and
fell, breaking the lamp and scattering the
blazing contents on the floor. To make
matters still worse his teeth came out
and fell in the blazing kerosene. AT this
1uncture a door opened near by and be-
witchng young lady appeared. The
unhappy youth waited not TO reflect, but
selling his teeth. covered as they were
with blazing kerosene, clapped them into
his mouth. No one knows what he suf-
fered, but he made no sound. And yet
people talk about the young Spartan boy
who stole "A wolf, concealed il under his
mantle, and let is eat his heart out rather
than diyulge his guilt.
The fOrcepe is probably the oldest tooth
extracting instrument known, leaden
forceps having been placed in the temple
of Apollo at DelphOs, by Erasistratus,
800 b. G. IL WAS not materially different
from the fOrceps Of the present day,
though 1t has from time TO time under
gone many changes. What was known
as turnkey WAS largely used in the
early part of the present century. IL had
handle like a corkserew and worked on
the principle of "a lever. In using 10 a
dentist placed bis patient on the door ana
took his or her head,as the case might be-
between his knees. Imagine the dignifled
and immortal George stretched 10 a supine
position on the floor while Or. Greenwood
wrestled with his few remaining molars.
The subject is not often touched upon by
historians, but IL IL quite possible that
George displayed as much true herOsm
on This occasion as be did at any other
time OF his life.
Some Of the more primitive methods OF
extracting tooth are worthy Of mention.
One was To- attach one end Of q stout
string 90 the offending teeth the other end
20 The handle OF "a halCUpened door. and
then suddenly close the door. The same
object was sometimes attained by iasten.
Ing the string 20 window SIN, and then
jumping out Of the window. How high