People have been looking for ways to replace missing or gapped teeth for about as long as people have HAD teeth. As early as 700 BCE, a form of dentures made from bone and ivory were created by the Etruscans. Discarded human and animal teeth taken from cadavers were also used for dentures. Within 500 years, the Etruscans had begun to use gold to replace gapped teeth in an early form of what we would know today as a dental bridge.
In the 1700s ivory dentures were extremely popular and were made from materials including hippopotamus, walrus and elephant. Human teeth, horse teeth and donkey teeth might have also been used, in addition to teeth pulled from fallen soldiers, executed criminals or other cadaver sources.
Over the years, great advancements were made in the area of dentures, and by the end of the 18th century porcelain dentures were created, pioneered by a dentist named Alexis Duchateau. Plaster was used to make molds of a patient’s mouth, allowing the dentist to create a denture that far surpassed any comfort level previously available to denture-wearing patients. This was a great improvement, but the teeth were too white to look real, and they tended to chip. In the early 19th century, Claudius Ash, employed as a gold and silver-smith, fused porcelain onto a gold base, providing a more realistic and durable option for dentures.
The rubbery base of the denture similar to what is used today was invented in the 1940s and was known as Vulcanite. Only ten years later, the first dental lab was established for the sole purpose of providing dental prosthetics. Today, dentists utilize acrylic for the pink-toned gum-tissue-mimicking base, and acrylic remains the primary material used today.
The technology and methodology of dentures improves and changes each year. Goopy molds have given way to digital impressions and 3-D printers. It is exciting to think what the future will hold for denture-wearers.
If you live in the Central Falls, RI area and you need dentures, contact our office today.
