What's wrong with his mouth?
One thing I learned this week is about Washington’s dentures. While reading the February issue of National Geographic one evening, I became totally fascinated by one fact in a short article about reconstructing Washington’s image: he owned some dentures that were made from not wood, but human teeth!
Talking to my colleagues the next day, I was surprised to find that the myth of Washington’s wooden dentures is widely spread. After researching online about this subject, I learned more about Washington’s serious dental problems in his lifetime. By the time of his inauguration as America’s first president in 1789, he had lost all but one tooth. He was only 57 then. He had many dentures made but none of them really fit. That is why you see him pouting in most of his portraits – because he had to close his mouth shut to keep his denture in. And the human teeth in his dentures are most likely his own.
Oh that makes me feel less awful! How could you keep someone else’s teeth in your own mouth? It is just weird. I’m all for heart transplants, kidney transplants, to name a few. But I am just not ready for human teeth denture yet.
Luckily I have good teeth. One physician saw my teeth and commented: “they grow good teeth in China.” Of course this is all my parents’ credit. Besides, my grandpa, who is 91, also has good teeth. It seems I have the good tooth gene. I shall not worry about human teeth denture.
To see a picture of GW's dentures, click here.
1 comment:
I saw it somewhere I don't remember now: dog/pig teeth were commonly used for dentures. I guess that won't make you feel any better;-)
My dentist also commented on my teeth. She said: AS A CHINESE, you have good teeth :-( but she also said Asian people's teeth are very strong.
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