Category:
Teeth
Teeth
Things That Bite People
According to data from the NYC Dept. of Health, in 1985, the top offenders were dogs and other people, in that order. I'm surprised that spiders weren't much higher on the list. Perhaps most spider bites in NYC were mild enough to go unreported.
Syracuse Post-Standard - July 23, 1986
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 15, 2025 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, 1980s, Teeth
Toothbrush Gun
I believe that this Cowboy/Cowgirl Toothbrush gun was for sale in the mid-1970s, because the only ads I can find for it are from 1976 and 1977.Odd concept since it required the kids to stick the gun in their mouth. Perhaps the game was suicidal cowboy.
The packaging states that it's protected by Patent No. 3,063,204. That's incorrect. Patent 3,063,204 has nothing to do with a toothbrush gun. I think the correct Patent is No. 3,308,836.
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 06, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Toys, Patents, 1970s, Weapons, Teeth
Handedness and Dental Wear
Back in 1950, Dr. Nishijima of Osaka University claimed that dentists could tell whether a person was right or left handed just by looking at their teeth — due to differential wear patterns from brushing.His claim sounds logical enough to me, but more recent research doesn't seem to support it. According to a Dec 2010 article in the Journal of Dental Sciences: "no statistically significant relationship was found between hand preference and tooth-brushing abrasion in this study."
Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial - Jan 21, 1950
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 28, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Teeth
Tooth Cap
The Southwark Heritage art museum has a nineteenth-century tooth cap in its collection. It offers this description:This cap belonged to a street "dentist" or tooth puller. It is made of brown velvet and felt, and decorated with approximately 88 decayed human teeth, once belonging to his patients. The teeth have been drilled and attached with twine. Wearing a cap like this was supposed to imply the "magician" aspect of the dentists work. As teeth pulling was painful and risky and done without anaesthetic, people needed to have some faith in the "dentist", even if it was only the evidence, worn on the cap, that he had successfully plied his trade.
If the cap looks like something you'd like to own, the website toothantique.com claims to be selling them. Newly made tooth caps, not nineteenth-century originals. They're asking only $100. For that price they say you get a cap "Decorated With 40 Real Human Teeth, Drilled And Attached With Twine."
Are they really selling these caps? I'm somewhat doubtful. The picture of their product is the same picture that's on the Southwark Heritage site. But I'm not curious enough to spend $100 to find out what would arrive in the mail.
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 31, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Headgear, Nineteenth Century, Teeth
A toothbrush designed to be bitten
Invented by Anthony John Heath and granted British patent GB 2167995A.
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 22, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Patents, Teeth
Miracle Dentistry
No need for dentists. Just pray away your tooth troubles!
Lloyd Bovee lived for over 50 more years. No mention of tooth problems in his obituary.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 28, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Religion, 1920s, Teeth
Waterloo Teeth
Text from the British Dental Association:The BDA Museum has several sets of 'Waterloo' teeth in its collection - some of these are teeth taken from dead soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo, which were made into dentures.
Replacement teeth were traditionally made from ivory (hippopotamus, walrus or elephant).
However such teeth did not always look natural and deteriorated more quickly than real teeth. If you wanted a really nice set of dentures these were made with an ivory base and then set with real human teeth.
These were expensive as it could take six weeks to make a complete set. They have subsequently become known as 'Waterloo teeth', as some were scavenged from dead soldiers on battlefields.
Replacement teeth were traditionally made from ivory (hippopotamus, walrus or elephant).
However such teeth did not always look natural and deteriorated more quickly than real teeth. If you wanted a really nice set of dentures these were made with an ivory base and then set with real human teeth.
These were expensive as it could take six weeks to make a complete set. They have subsequently become known as 'Waterloo teeth', as some were scavenged from dead soldiers on battlefields.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 16, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: War, Teeth
How much do you need to chew your food?
British dentist John H. Farrell spent much of his career studying the relationship between chewing and digestion. This involved repeated experiments in which he put bits of food in small, cotton-mesh bags, had subjects chew the food (or not), and then swallow it. The next step was more unpleasant:On recovery from the faeces the bags were washed gently and the contents, if any, were examined and weighed.
The years he spent doing this convinced him that "very little chewing is required for maximum digestion."
More info: "The effect on digestibility of methods commonly used to increase the tenderness of lean meat"
Bedford Times-Mail - Apr 17, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 21, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food, Experiments, Stomach, Teeth
No makeup or men for five years
When British dentist Philip Grundy died in 1974, he left the bulk of his estate, slightly over $400,000, to Amelia Whaite, the receptionist at his practice. But with some unusual conditions. He forbid her from wearing lipstick or makeup, or going out with any men, for five years.$400,000 in 1974, adjusted for inflation, would be over $2,000,000 today. So a nice chunk of money.
However, Grunday also made Whaite the sole executor of his estate "with the responsibility to see the will's conditions are kept." So if she didn't follow the conditions was she supposed to self-report herself?
Atlanta Constitution - Mar 17, 1974
I found a forum where residents of Leyland, Lancashire (where Grundy worked) recalled going to his practice. Seems that, in addition to the money, he left behind a lot of traumatized patients. Some typical comments:
There were two doors in the dentists room one in and one out, so no one ever saw the end result of his work I swear I've given birth twice and it didn't hurt as much as that butchers work on my mouth.
My worst horror story was when I had to have 2 teeth pulled and complained about the gas, Grundy did'nt bat an eyelid and promptly yanked them out without anything. I did'nt get a vote, and never complained again, I was 14 at the time.
GRUNDY'S! there was a trail of blood from the door, past the bus stop and round the corner; You couldn't get out of the waiting room once you were in as the door only opened inwards- some brave souls escaped when someone was entering, nearly knocking them over. Waiting room full of smoke and old copies of The Beano in yellowed celluloid covers; view of a sad square of lawn; anyone escaping by the usual way out had to go past, and be accosted by a Forbidding Receptionist.Some sort of liaison here, as Grundy left her all his money, on condition that she never wear lipstick!
Some more info about Grundy and Whaite from a 1974 Associated Press article:
In July 1962, a special dental court found Grundy and Miss Whaite guilty of conspiring to defraud the state-run National Health Service by charging unjustified fees. Both were fined.
Four years later, Grundy was accused of addiction to inhaling anesthetic gas and was forbidden to practice for five years.
He resumed his practice in 1971 and built it into a flourishing enterprise with a staff of 14. . .
Miss Whaite now runs the practice, still with a 14-member staff.
Four years later, Grundy was accused of addiction to inhaling anesthetic gas and was forbidden to practice for five years.
He resumed his practice in 1971 and built it into a flourishing enterprise with a staff of 14. . .
Miss Whaite now runs the practice, still with a 14-member staff.
Grundy sounds like he was a real piece of work.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 31, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Law, 1970s, Teeth
Triple-Bristle Toothbrush
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 07, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Hygiene, Inventions, Chindogu, Teeth
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |