A History of Dentistry from the most Ancient Times until the end of the Eighteenth CenturyGuerini, Vincenzo
History
A History of Dentistry from the most Ancient Times until the end of the Eighteenth Century
Guerini, Vincenzo
Dentistry -- History
The other appliance (Fig. 20) is formed by two rings; the one surrounds
the left upper canine, the other the left middle incisor. Between these
two rings there is not the usual ring crossed by a pivot, but simply
a small horizontal bar of gold soldered to the two rings. I suppose
that the person not liking to wear false teeth (one meets with this
repugnance also at the present day), the dentist has limited himself to
putting a horizontal bar of gold between the two teeth on either side
of the missing one, in order to maintain them in their normal position
and so avoid the bad effects of convergence.
[Illustration: FIG. 21
Dental appliance still adhering to the jaw, discovered in an Etruscan
necropolis near Orvieto, and now in the possession of the Ghent
University.]
Another ancient dental appliance discovered in an Etruscan necropolis
near Orvieto is now in the possession of the Ghent University, to
which it was sold.[107] It still adheres to a piece of upper jaw (Fig.
21), in which there are four teeth on each side, that is, on the right,
the canine, the two bicuspids, and the first molar; on the left, the
canine, the second bicuspid, and the two first molars. The alveoli of
the four incisors are of normal width and depth, this signifying that
these teeth remained in their places until the end of life. The dental
appliance, still supported by this fragment of a jaw, is made of the
purest gold. It is composed of a small band curved back upon itself,
the ends being soldered together, and, by the aid of two partitions,
also of pure gold, it forms three compartments, two small lateral
ones, and one centre one of double the size. The lateral compartment
on the right contains the canine of the same side; that on the left
must have contained the left central incisor, that has now disappeared,
while the large central compartment must evidently have contained the
two incisors on the right side. As there is no pivot in the whole
appliance, and as the alveoli are not obliterated, there can be no
doubt that the appliance was simply destined to prevent the loss of the
two right incisors by keeping them steady.
[Illustration: FIG. 22
The same piece as in the preceding figure, seen from the palatal side.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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