Image Notes: A Dentist and Dental Assistant perform surgery on a patient.
Evidence has been found of teeth having been drilled dating back 9,000 years. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization, even from the early Harappan periods (c. 3300 BC), had knowledge of medicine and dentistry. A physical anthropologist that examined exhumed bodies from that time period, Professor Andrea Cucina from the University of Missouri-Columbia, made the discovery when he was cleaning the teeth from one of the men. Stone age people in Pakistan were using dental drills made of flint 9,000 years ago.
Some information contained in the Edwin Smith Papyrus dates as early as 3000 BC and includes the treatment of several dental ailments. Hammurabi's Code contains some references to dental procedures and fees. The Ebers papyrus also discusses similar treatments. Examining the remains of some ancient Egyptians and Greco-Romans reveal early attempts at dental prosthetics and surgery.
Historically, dental extractions have been used to treat a variety of illnesses. During the Middle Ages and through the 19th century, dentistry was not a profession into itself, and often dental procedures were performed by barbers or general physicians. Barbers usually limited their practice to extracting teeth, which not only resulted in the alleviation of pain, but often cured a variety of ailments linked with chronic tooth infection. Instruments used for dental extractions date back several centuries. In the 14th century, Guy de Chauliac invented the dental pelican (resembling a pelican's beak) which was used through the late 18th century. The pelican was replaced by the dental key which, in turn, was replaced by modern forceps in the 20th century.
It is said that the 17th century French physician Pierre Fauchard started dentistry science as we know it today, hence he was named "the father of modern dentistry". Among many of his developments were, the extensive use of dental prosthesis, introducing dental fillings as treatment for dental caries and stating that sugar derivate acids like tartaric acid were responsible for dental decay.
Text and images are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Material is used from the Wikipedia article "Dentistry".
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