Let's talk dental hygiene

[Niko]

Jesus man....thats scary.

[Grymm]

Jesus man....thats scary.

Nah, just dose y'self up with laudenum from the quack and everything would be pink and fluffy.

[Grymm]

From a medical of 1669

forgive the f's and $

The liquid Lmdanum, which, as I faid, I ufed daily, was prepar'd according to the following plain manner.

'fake of Spanifh Wine, one Tint$ of Opium, two Ounces ^ of Saffron one Ounce ; of the foiKdcv of Cinnamon, and Cloves, each one 1)ram . let them le infufd together in a $atb two or three tDays., till tbe Liquor com.es to a due Confidence j flrain it, and keep it for life.

I do not think this Preparation has more Virtue than, the folid Laudanum of the Shops; but I prefer it before that for its more commodious Form, and by reafon of the greater Certainty of the Dofe $ for it may bs drop'd into Wine, or into any diftill'd Water, or into any oiher Liquor. And truly I cannot here forbear mentioning, with Gratityde, that Omnipotent GOD, the Giver of al( good Things, has not provided any other Remedy for the Relief of wretched Man, which is fo able either to quell more Difeafes, or more effectually to extirpate them, than opiate Medicines taken from fome Species of Poppies. And tho there are fome that would fain perfwade credulous People, that almoft all the Virtues of opiate Medicines, e/pecially of Opium, principally depend on their artificial Preparation of it; yet he th.at fhall make Experience the Judge, and /hall as often try the fimple Juice,, as it comes by Nature, as the Preparations of it, if he bs careful in his Observation, will fcarce 6nd any difference ; he will certainly know, that thofe admirable Effects. which it produces, peoceed from the native Goodnefs and. Excellency of the Plant, and not frQtn the Skill of the, Artificer. And fo neceflary is this Inftrument in the lund, of'a. skilful Man, that without it Phyfick would be very lame and imperfect ; and he that- rightly underftands it, do greater things than can be well hop'd for from one i Medicine : Medicine : For furcly he is very unskilful, and little under- ftands the Virtue of this Medicine, who only knows how to ufe it to promote Sleep, to eafe Pain, and to flop a Loofe- ncfs ; whereas if may be accomodated, like the Delpbick Sword, to many other ufes : and it is really a moft excellent Cordial Remedy, Ihadalmoft'faid the only one, which has been'hitherto found amongft the Things of Nature.

[Mission]

And now for some more period tooth cleaning suggestions from the surgeons and physicians of the time.

“Numerous remedies exist for cleaning the teeth, but according to [Lazare] Riviére [1589 – 1655] the best way of cleaning them consists in rubbing them with a small stick immersed in sulphuric acid (spiritus sulphuris aut viotrioli) and afterward drying them with a piece of linen. This remedy not only cleans and renders the teeth white, but it preserves them also from caries! If the teeth are very dirty, the spirit of vitriol [sulfuric acid] may be used pure; otherwise one mixes it with mel rosatum [honey of roses] or with water.” (Guerini, p. 230)

“Riviére, besides, recommends tobacco ashes for cleaning the teeth, a counsel not yet given by any previous author. He also give the formulæ for two dentifrice powders, the basis of which is alum; he calls attention

__

to the great importance of taking assiduous care to keep the teeth clean, and advises that after each meal the residues of food be removed from the interstices of the teeth and the mouth well rinsed with wine.” (Guerini, p. 230-1)

“This author [Anton Nuck – 1650 – 1692] acquaints us with a tooth powder, much used in his time, especially by Parisian ladies. The ingredients were powdered cuttle fish, coral powder, cream of tartar, Armenian bole [a reddish-brown soft oily clay], and powder of red roses.” (Guerini, p. 247)

[Niko]

Jesus man....thats scary.

Nah, just dose y'self up with laudenum from the quack and everything would be pink and fluffy.

Just what I need....to start up an opium habit...lol

[Caraccioli]

Now, about those dental worms...you really need to know more about this subject.

"The belief that dental caries and toothache could be caused by worms was, at that time, still in full vigor, and it gained still greater force by reason of observations recorded by different scientists, whose affirmations could with difficulty be doubted, for at that period the great number still swore blindly in verba magistri.

Oligerus Jacobaens (1650 to 1701), a Danish physician and anatomist, who taught in the University of Copenhagen, declared that in scraping the decaying cavity of a tooth that was the cause of violent pain, he had seen a worm come forth, which, having been put into water, moved about in it for a long time.

Martin Six, having split some decayed teeth a short time after they had been extracted, asserts that he determined the existence of worms in

__

them. (It is probably that this observer, as well as others, mistook the dental pulp for a worm, an unpardonable error, in truth, at a time when the anatomical constitution of the teeth had already been very well studied by several scientists, and especially by the celebrated Bartomoleo Eustachius.)

Gabriel Clauder (1633 to 1691) not only believed in dental worms, but maintained besides that these were the most frequent among all the causes of toothache. In a certain way, to sustain this opinion of his, he relates a case in which a tooth of healthy appearance being the seat of great pain, a tooth-drawer had asserted that there must be a worm in its interior; and, in fact, on the tooth being extracted and afterward split, the little animal whose existence the tooth-drawer had divined, was found to be existing inside of it!

Philip Salmuth asserts that by using rancid oil he got a worm out of the decayed tooth of a person suffering from violent toothache, thus causing the cessation of pain. The worm, he says, was an inch and a half in length (!) and similar in form to a cheese maggot.

Nicolaus Pechlin (1646 to 1706), professor of medicine at Kiel, testifies to having seen five such dental worms, like maggots, come out by the use of honey, though he does not say whether they issued from several cavities or only one!

Gottfried Schulz. But all this is nothing compared to what Gottfried Schulz has dared to assert, viz., that by using the gastric juice of the pig, worms of great size can be enticed out of decayed teeth; some of these even reaching the dimension of an earth worm!” (Guerini, p. 231-2)

“[Carlo] Musitano [1635 to 1714], too, believes in worms in the teeth, but does not admit, as preceding authors had done, that they generate spontaneously. He holds instead that they result from the eggs of flies and other insects, which, together with food, are introduced into the carious cavities and there develop in the heat of the mouth.” (Guerini, p. 247)

“As to worms, the best mode of destroying them [according to Musitano] is by using bitter substances, such as myrrh, aloes, colocynth, centaurea minor, etc., but sometimes the use of sweet substances, such as honey, is a good means of drawing them out of the carious cavities!” (Guerini, p. 248)

Edited June 19, 2009 by Caraccioli

[1stMate Matt]

Wow. Those are scarey as hell. No wonder we all have a fear of the dentist embeded in our DNA.

[1stMate Matt]

By the way this would make a killer article if someone would want to write such a thing.

[Misson]

By the way this would make a killer article if someone would want to write such a thing.

Like how? I might want to write such a thing. Might as well do something with all this info I'm accumulating...

[Ivan Henry aka Moose]

I'm seeing yet another reason Pirates were drunk a great deal of the time.

[Niko]

By the way this would make a killer article if someone would want to write such a thing.

Like how? I might want to write such a thing. Might as well do something with all this info I'm accumulating...

I'm suprised you haven't really. I mean with all the information you're giving people here on the pub you would think you would have.

[Misson]

By the way this would make a killer article if someone would want to write such a thing.

Like how? I might want to write such a thing. Might as well do something with all this info I'm accumulating...

I'm suprised you haven't really. I mean with all the information you're giving people here on the pub you would think you would have.

Well, I am writing a book. Look for it in a bookstore near you sometime in, say, the next decade or two...

Edited June 20, 2009 by Misson

[Misson]

Hey, this is kinda' cool. There's a dental pelican on eBay. (It's a little pricey...)

http://tiny.cc/2rZsJ

Since it will disappear soon, here are the photos:

What's interesting about it (to me, anyway) is that it is adjustable. One of the problems with dental tools during this period is that they had to have tooth-pulling tools for different sized teeth. A competent tooth puller would probably have had a half-dozen or more tools sized to different widths of tooth. As you can see in the middle of the handle, this one has a wing nut for adjusting the end of the tool in and out. Look at the edge on that thing! Imagine having the tooth puller pushing the lever arm down and digging that serrated edge into your aching tooth to get a grip on it. Sheesh!

Boy I wish I could justify spending $600 on that thing. I'd guess it's a beautiful example of 17th/18th century devices based on the patina and the style of that wing nut.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Misson

[Quartermaster James]

So, exactly how is this used? Is it clamped down on a toothe and then used as a handle to pull the toothe out of its socket? Or, perhaps it somehow leverages the toothe free?

[BlaggardMike]

Just look at the United States first president. Wooden teeth I believe. Ale and wine contain a lot more sugar than many sweets and after the spanish invaded central America chocolate became abundant. A hundred years after the invasion chocolate spread through europe and was well known and many people were quite fond of it.

Dental hygiene was available but ignored by many.

Europeans used the greek method until the early 1700's

The greek method was dipping linen cloth or sponges dipped in sulfur oils and salt solutions and rubbing away all the tooth grime.

Eventually chinese invention of bamboo and boars hair made its way to europe. the europeans improvised the bamboo for native wood

Edited June 20, 2009 by BlaggardMike

[Misson]

So, exactly how is this used? Is it clamped down on a toothe and then used as a handle to pull the toothe out of its socket? Or, perhaps it somehow leverages the toothe free?

As I mentioned in the post above with all the pictures, the pelican was used to grab the tooth from the side, giving the tooth-puller a handle which they could use to pull the tooth up and wiggle it around to loosen it. Some early authors refer to pelicans as "dental forceps" although they really don't function like forceps at all. Of course, methods for tooth removal varied. Tooth-pulling was largely believed to be the last resort for curing tooth-aches by most trained medical people. (Physicians and many surgeons believed such work was beneath them. However, on a ship, there is no one else to do such work -- well, maybe the carpenter if you were really suffering -- so the surgeon might have to do such things.) Many people didn't go to surgeons, rather they used barbers and wandering tooth-pullers to get a sore tooth removed.

The pelican wasn't the only tool. There are many examples of pointed dental extraction forceps of various sizes. In fact, I would suspect this would be the sort of thing that the itinerant tooth-puller would use:

Dental Extraction Forceps:

These are what I have in my period surgical kit, along with a charming little tool for getting under the tooth called a goat's foot elevator:

That little hooked thing (which I guess looks like a goat's foot - I do not know many goats) is used to get under the tooth and prise it upward.

From what I've read, some tooth-pullers believed you had to remove the gums from the roots of the tooth. My thought is that these would have been very experienced barbers or possibly surgeons rather than itinerant tooth-pullers. I doubt they were much interested in purchasing scalpels and surgical knives required for cutting the gums. You'll also find a pic of an instrument called a trifed lever in my last instrument picture-laden post. I suspect it would be used to dig under the gum when a tooth was loose and probably under the tooth to further loosen it by getting leverage. (Many people's jaws were broken during tooth removal from what I've read.)

Of course, there may be more to it than I've noted. I haven't read a whole lot on procedures. I didn't even understand what the goat's foot elevator was for when I first purchased mine - someone asked me and I quickly puzzled it out for myself. Dentistry was a much-hoarded secret, especially in England, so we don't actually have a lot of documentation on the practice. There was only one book published in England during period.

"Not until the year 1685, do we find in England the first real definite information concerning a dental practitioner. In that year Charles Allen of York, England, claiming himself as ‘professor of the same’ and referring to the care of the teeth, published what we today acknowledge to be the first English dental book, The Operator for the Teeth. His idea in writing this work is expressed in the ‘proem’ and he therein claims to be the first English dentist. ‘Of what importance it is to all men to be informed of those benefits which by my Art they may enjoy’..." (Weinberger, Bernhard Wolf, An Introduction to the History of Dentistry, Volume 1, p. 227)

I haven't procured a copy of The Operator for the Teeth, but I'm working on it. It's actually quite short - something like 90 pages. I am hoping he'll detail some of the dental procedures for me a little more succinctly.

Edited June 21, 2009 by Misson

[Misson]

Ah, I just stumbled across this, which may be instructive regarding period dental instruments. It's a little early for period, but the instruments were all in use during period under one description or another. (Many of the various forceps Fabricius describes are also described by Woodall as they were useful for non-dental surgery .)

“The instruments which are used for the extraction of teeth, are, says Fabricius [Girolamo Fabrizio of Aquapendente (1537 to 1619)], of nine kinds; and the most important among them – generically called forceps – are indicated by special names, taken from their resemblance to the mouth or beak of certain animals. Thus, forceps with which it is usual to perform the extraction of molar teeth are called ‘pelicans,’ and of these there are two kinds, according as they are used for the right or left side, for the upper molars or the lower ones.

A third kind of instrument goes under the name of ‘beak’ (rostrum), and serves for the extraction of incisors.

A fourth kind is the ‘crow’s beak,’ or ‘crow’s bill,’ which is used for the extraction of roots.

Two other instruments are named in Italian ‘cagnoli,’ for they imitate the strong bite of the dog (in Italian cane) and are used in cases where the pelican is not adapted.

A seventh instrument is called by the Latin term of terebra (drill or auger). It is used instead of a lever to separate the teeth from one another when they are too close to each other, and so render their extraction much easier.

The eighth instrument is a ‘trifid lever’ (vectis trifidus), so called because it is furnished with three points.

The ninth and last kind of instruments are the dentiscalpia, slender, sharp, and oblong tools, with which the gums are separated from the teeth before extraction.” (Guerini, p. 211)

Edited June 21, 2009 by Misson

[Raphael Misson]

Ah, good stuff.

“If, says Strobelberger, a place is to be accorded, in dental therapeutics, to the vain remedies, among these, amulets deserve the preference; and the best accredited amulet is the root of the lepidium, already recommended by Discorides, who affirms that if it be hung around the neck of the sufferer it will cause pain to cease.

One of the superstitious remedies to be used aganst [sic] this affection (Chapter LVIII), consists in touching the aching tooth with the tooth of a dead person, and afterward greasing it with horse’s marrow.

__

Among the ridiculous remedies (Chapter LIX), the author describes one that was especially in use among soldiers. With a piece of chalk or of rubble one writes on a table:

Chiacia.....Chiacia.....Chiacia

X..O..X......X..O..X......X..O..X

[Periods added to prevent removal of spaces by forum editor.]

One then pricks the tooth with a knife or an iron toothpick until it bleeds slightly; then thrusting the point of the instrument, to which the blood adheres, into the first cross, then into the second, then into the third, and so on, one asks the patient each time if the tooth still pains him. Before one gets to the last cross the pain ceases! This stolid cure, says the author, has no other value than that of the scarification of the part affected.” (Guerini, p. 221-2)

Edited July 3, 2009 by Raphael Misson

[Mission]

A dental tip from John Moyle's Chirurgus Marinus: or the Sea Surgeon (1693):

“CHAP. XLVI.

Of the Tooth-ach and Gums.

Various things are used to stop an Aching Tooth, or asswage pained Gums, but sometimes they take effect, and sometimes not.

You must know that there is a cold Rheume, and likewise a hot Rheume [a watery mucus discharge], that are causes of the Gums and Teeth pained: besides the rottenness and hollowness of the Teeth themselves, that letting in the Air, and Crums, cause pain, hurting the tender Nerve within the Tooth.

I know most of the ways that men use in this case, but I will content my self to write only the very best of things, and what I have experienced.

If it be a cold Rheume that is the cause, (as you may easily know) then use only a small pellet of Lint dipt in Olium Garioph. [not sure] and with the end of your Fleme put it into the hollow Tooth, and let the Patient lye down on that side, but be sure first to pick out any Crum that may be in the hollowness of the Tooth; and this usually gives ease.

__

And if it be a hot Rheume, take only Laudinum, {grain}ij. dissolve it in a Spoonful of Sack [Wine], and dip a small pellet of Lint in it, and put it into the hollow Tooth, and let the Patient swallow the rest, and go and lye down warm upon it; and that is a sure remedy.

But if the pain do return to rotten and hollow Teeth, as often as the Air gets into them and offends the Nerve, or Crums get in and hurt the Nerve, in this case you may try to cure it by actual or potential Cautery; the actual is heating the small end of your Probe red hot, and so applying it into the hollow of the Tooth to burn or Sear the Nerve, but let it be done with care, that you touch not the Mouth or Gums with it. This hath done with several.

The potential is Ol. Vitriol [sulfuric acid]: put into the Tooth on a pellet of Lint; and here must care be taken too, lest it touch the Mouth or Gums. This hath likewise often taken effect.

But if all these ways fail, and the rotten or hollow Teeth still torment, you have no better way left than to draw them out.” (Moyle, p. 242-3)

Actual cautery is heating up some piece of metal and applying it directly to the flesh. Potential cautery is using acid to burn the flesh. I'm not sure why they refer to it as 'potential' other than as a way to differentiate it from applying hot metal.

[Mission]

This is from Albucasis, who was an Arabic surgeon in the 12th century. His books were still in use during period as teaching guides, although more in France than England. Still, I have seen reference to the actual cautery in dentistry in books contemporary to period and they are probably based upon this work:

“CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE On cauterization for toothache

When the toothache arises on account of cold, or if there be a worm in the tooth, and medical treatment does not avail,

then cauterization should be undertaken. There are two ways of doing this, one with butter, the other with the cautery. Cauterization with butter is done thus: take cow’s butter and let it boil in an iron ladle or pan; then take cotton or wool, wind it round the top of a probe, and dip it in the boiling butter and quickly apply it to the aching tooth and hold it there till cold. Repeat this a number of times till the power of the fire reaches the root of the tooth. If you prefer, dip wool or cotton in cold butter and put it on the aching tooth, then on top of that apply the hot iron until the heat of the fire reaches the root of the tooth.

The actual cautery is administered thus: take a tube of bronze or iron with some thickness in the body o fit so that the intensity of the fire does not reach the patient’s mouth. Then heat a cautery whose figure will be given shortly, and apply it to the tooth itself and hold your hand until the cautery gets cold. Do this several times over; the pain will certainly depart the same day or next. After this cauterization the patient is to fill his mouth with good butter and keep it in for a while, then spit it out.” (Spink, M.S. and Lewis, G.L., editors, Albucasis On Surgery and Instruments; A Definitive Edition of the Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, 1973, p. 66)

[adam cyphers]

mission ive got a tooth owie...if you are comin to the blackbeard fest..im first...

[Mission]

And now for a complicated (and very painful-sounding) dental treatment, courtesy of the Dutch author Matthias Gottfried Purmann, from his book Chirurgia curiosa, translated into English by William Cowper in 1705. (Feel free to skim the medical recipes, unless you can decipher mysteriously abbreviated Latin.) Oh, and I love the use of the word 'dentifrice.' (It's a word you don't get to see often enough, even though toothpaste is, in fact, a dentifrice.)

"In December 1678, I had under Cure a Boatswain of a Ship at Strahlfund, where I was then Quartered, being Chirurgeon to a Brandenburg Regiment: He was about 36 years of Age, named Hans Peterson, he had a Spongy Excrescence on the lower Part of the Left Side, which happened by the Inartful drawing of a Tooth, by which the Maxilla was Fissurated. Having diligently examined and considered the Parts, I spread the following Mass upon Linen indifferently thick, and applied it to the Fungus, renewing it every three Hours.

Rx. Pulv. Cinam. Caryophill. ana {dram}ss Coral. rubr. ppt. Rad Pyrethr. ana {dram} jss. Porcellan. ppt. Lap. Sillic. ppt. ana {dram}ij. Alum. crud. Ocul Cancr. ana. {dram}j. Sangu. Draconis {scruple}j. Misce cum s. q. mell. Rosar. Ad mass formam.

This succeeding well in the beginning, I continued it, and also used this Water very often.

Rx. Rad. Tromentil. {ounce}ij. Serpentar. {ounce}j. Flor. Rosa. Rubr. Balaust. Lupul. Gland. ana. {dram}vj. misce.

Boil all these together in Aqu. Cochlear. and Aqu. Salviæ of each a Quart, and afterward add as much Alum to it as will render it indifferent Sharp: But if the Distemper is accompanied with any great Pain, then use the following Water.

Rx. Rasur. Lign. Gutac. {dram}j. Fol. Nicotrant. Mjss Rad. Pyrethr. {dram}ij. Caryophillor. Sem. Hyoscyam. ana. {dram}j. Coque in s. q. Aqu commun. Colat. Adde Essent. Anodyn {scruple}ij. vel Laud. liquid. Tartaris {scruple}ij. Misce & Fungo applicetur.

This Excellent Dentifrice may be used in many other dolorous Infirmities of the Teeth and Gums, only applying it a little warm It performed its part very well in this Patient, but yet it would not heal; which gave me Reason to think, that the Jaw-bone was Carious; whereupon I cut away the Flesh, and as soon as the Bleeding was stopt, it might easily be perceived and having taken out more than three Splinters from the Jaw bone, I scraped and Cauterized it, and the Patient in Six Weeks time was perfectly Cured.” (Purrman, p 36)

[Mission]

Every so often you come across editorial comments like this that make reading worth your while. This is from Charles Allen's Curious Observations in that difficult part of Chirurgery Relating to the Teeth (or, more commonly called, The Operator for the Teeth):

"But these treble ones [teeth with three roots - molars] usually vary very much in time of growth, for it is but rarely that they all come forth in the same year, the four last of them seldom coming out before the one or two and twentieth year of our age; for which reason such Teeth are called by some, Teeth of Wisdom; because that by that time, we should have a full use of our rational Faculty, thought God knows how often it proves to be true." (Allen, p. 32)

[Mission]

N'kay, this is from Charles Allen's 1685 book The Operator for the Teeth, the first English book on dentistry. That latter part of it is a theoretical procedure rather than something that happened (as far as I know), but it's too fascinating for me not to post it somewhere, not the least of which reason is that it potentially involves goats.

“…there are still some help for it [lost teeth], the natural want may be supplied artificially, and herein Art imitates Nature so naitly, that when the succedaneous Teeth (if I may so speak) are well set in, they cannot be distinguished from the natural ones, (neither in colour, firmness, nor proportion) but by them that known of it. Being thus exactly fitted to their place, they will keep the next to them, and by consequence all the rest of that Jaw abundantly firmer and stronger than they would otherwise be.

The Advantages that may be attributed to the artificial Teeth, are many; as that they keep the others fast, as we said just now, that they are of a great ornament, and help pronunciation extremely, &c. But all that is with a Proviso, that they be well made, and according to the best Art; for otherwise they might prove quite contrary.

Besides this Artificial way of repairing the loss of

__

Teeth, there is another that may be called Natural; which is done by taking out the rotten Teeth or stumps, and putting in their places some sound ones, drawn immediately after out of some poor body’s head: which thing (tho difficult) I know to be feasible enough, not only by my own reason that tells me so, but by experience it self, as (to say no more at present) may be instanced in the case of a certain Lady, who thinking to have two Teeth growing one on top of another, come one day to my Master to have one of them Drawn; my Master told her that they were not two distinct Teeth, but only a double one; but the Lady being not satisfied with this, desired him to take out the Tooth she had told him of, let it be what it would. The Tooth being drawn out, and proving as my Master had said, it was quickly set again into the Jaw; and with the use of some convenient and proper Remedies, became in few weeks to be as firm again as any of the rest.

And yet although the event in this particular had not proved so prosperous as it did; its ill success would not destroy in me the possibility of such a transplanting, or Inoculation of Teeth; (if I may be permitted to use such terms) that was not the only motive I had to believe it; and I have not inserted the Story of it here as an Argument to prove invincibly what I say, but only as a proper Example to render probably to others what I know to be true. However, I do not like that method of drawing Teeth out of some folks heads, to put them into others, both for its being too

__

inhumane, and attended with too many difficulties; and then neither could this be called the restauration of Teeth, since the reparation of one, is the ruine of another; it is only robbing of Peter to pay Paul. But if instead of humane Teeth, there is use made of those of some Brutes, as Dogs, Sheep, &c. In such case I do not only approve of it as lawful and facile, but do also esteem it as very profitable and advantageous; only care is to be had, that the thing be undertaken, and carried on by one that at least knows something of Anatomy, and has a right sense of the thing to be done, being furnished with whatever is necessary in an Operation of that nature.

And that (if my Opinion may be any wise serviceable in such an Attempt) I may contribute something towards the improvement of so useful an Invention; I think one I, to proceed in it somewhat after this manner. First, I would chuse an Animal whose Teeth should come nearest to those of the Patient; as a Dog, a Sheep, a Goat, or a Baboon, &c. and having tied his legs together, I would fasten his head in some convenient place, so that he might not stir in the least, and by some proper means keep his mouth open as long as I should have occasion: that done, I would open the Gums round the Tooth to be taken out of his head, not only to the very Jaw-bone, but as far between the said Bone and the Tooth, as the finest Instrument could go, leaving a very little portion of the Gums about it; and then having used the same circumspection, in dividing the Patients Tooth from the

__

Gums, and the Jaw-bone, I would draw it forth, and put immediately in its place that of of [sic] the Brute; fastning it very well and streight [tight] between the other Teeth: and then with the use suitable Remedies [medicines], I do not question in the least but that it would unite to the Gums and Jaw-bone, and in a little time become as fast as any of the others: which performance might properly be termed the natural Restauration, or Renovation of Humane Teeth.” (Charles Allen, p. 20-2)

[Daniel]

Wow. I didn't know the idea of animal transplant surgery was that old. Also, I didn't know that the phrase "robbing Peter to pay Paul" was over 300 years old. Now that I look it up, I see it may go back as far as 1380: John Wyclif reportedly wrote: "Lord, hou schulde God approve that you robbe Petur and gif is robbere to Poule in ye name of Crist?"