A History of Dentists and Dental Health (Growing Weekly, 2018)
Dental Roots Grow Deep
Dentists have long been a part of civilized culture. Going as far back as 7000 BC, we can see that people have always found a practical use for the art of dentistry. Albeit, not always in it’s current manner of highly professional, trained, skilled, and medical nature.
When dentistry was discovered, historically speaking, even the ancient Greeks wrote prominently about how teeth arrive in the mouth, patterns associated with eventual rot and decay. Important Greek minds even developed tools and procedures to combat a growing array of dental issues that plagued the once thriving democracy.
Where Modern Dentistry Began
After thousands of years of rudimentary teeth extraction, and crazy philosophy (Hey, at least they were thinking about teeth!), the modern era of dental health and dentistry started to take shape into what we know and love today.
From the 1600’s onward, a steady acceleration of dental awareness gripped western society (I say western, as that is where much of accessible history is to be found. Feel free to point out alternatives).
A fellow by the name of Pierre Fauchard, a french surgeon, had initiated a study of Egyptian mummies, and how their teeth and oral state of being had perceived over the ages.
Through the realization of the different ways in which the teeth of the mummies were preserved, he began to develop theories as it relates to diets and mummification process, and so the ball was set into motion for centuries of advances in dentistry.
