Happy Monday! It's the last "That Time..." of the month and since it was George Washington's birthday last week, I figured why not write about him again. However, today's post is about his teeth. If you think that's a weird thing to write about, welcome to my blog and I hope you enjoy my other weird history posts.
George Washington was a "Founding Father" and the first US President. Yes, the photo above is a photo of his dentures. Don't question it. Just go with it. If you're American like me, you were raised on the myth that George Washington had fake teeth made of wood. I am here to debunk the myth and tell you all about his teeth and dentures. I learned more about his teeth in research for this post than I ever thought I would.
George Washington had his first tooth extracted, in April 1756 when he was only 24. He wrote in his diary that the extraction was by "Doctor Watson". He paid what the equivalent of $50 today is. By the time he was inaugurated and took the oath as the first President of the United States, in 1789, he only had one working tooth. The then had that final tooth pulled by his personal dentist, Dr. John Greenwood. He gifted his final tooth to Dr. Greenwood, who then put the tooth into a glass display which he kept on his watch chain. Weird flex, buddy.
But why was Washington's dental health so bad? Obviously, no one knows for sure. John Adams believed that it was because Washington used his teeth to crack open walnuts, which is possible. However, historians believe that it had to do with the treatment for smallpox that Washington had taken: mercury chloride. Either way, it was unpleasant.
Throughout his life, Washington had 4 sets of dentures. Despite the myth that was taught in elementary school textbooks, his dentures were not made of wood. Made of other people's teeth, animal teeth, hippopotamus or elephant ivory, brass, and gold. The myth of wooden dentures came from the staining of the teeth making them look wooden. According to Dr. Greenwood, who Washington would send his dentures for maintenance, the President was notoriously staining his teeth often.
He began wearing partial dentures in 1781. Records at Mount Vernon show that in May of 1784, Washington paid the equivalent of $954 for a total of nine teeth to unnamed enslaved people. The Mount Vernon site states, "It is important to note that while Washington paid these enslaved people for their teeth it does not mean they had a real option to refuse". I feel like that is a very important thing to keep in mind while talking about this. It is unknown if he used those nine teeth himself for his own dentures, or if he was acquiring those teeth for a family member. His wife, Martha Washington also wore dentures.
Washington kept a few of his own extracted teeth to use in his dentures. Where did he keep them, you might ask? Well in a locked drawer in a desk, of course! Gotta keep them safe. He wrote a letter in 1782 to a distant cousin of his who was managing Mount Vernon at the time: "In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which stands in my study you will find two (fore) teeth; which I beg of you to wrap up carefully and send inclosed [sic] in your next letter to me. I am positive I left them there, or in the secret drawer locker of the same desk." Apparently, he had more than one locked drawer in his desk and I respect it.
The dentures Washington wore for his inauguration were made of ivory, brass, and gold, specifically made by Dr. John Greenwood. The President often wrote about his dental misfortunes in his diary. He wrote about aches, lost teeth, and inflamed gums. Often complaining about how his dentures never quite fit comfortably. He wrote to Dr. Greenwood that the dentures were "already too wide, and too projecting for the parts they rest upon; which causes both upper and under lip to bulge out, as if swelled". In a later letter, he states that the dentures had "the effect of forcing the lip out just under the nose". He was on the dental struggle bus big time.
There are only two surviving sets of dentures. One is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, who are the people behind turning Mount Vernon into the museum it is today. The other is held at the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, Maryland.
I HIGHLY recommend checking out some of the videos the Mount Vernon site had on his dentures. They are fascinating. Included above is a portrait of Washington. You can see the odd way his mouth looks. It is because he had to clench his teeth to keep his mouth closed. Because the dentures had a spring that would help them open and close when he talked. However, the spring was so strong, they sometimes would push against the upper jaw. So you can imagine the man was in constant pain. It seemingly made speaking unpleasant. Which is understandable! Look at him.
Besides the pain from the ill-fitting dentures, the way they sat on his jaw also affected the shape of his face. You can tell the difference in the way his jaw sits from the three different portraits I included in this post.
Below is a video of what it was probably like creating Washington's dentures.
If you enjoyed learning about George Washington's dentures that were not made of wood, please check out my other "That Time... posts! If you have any other weird moments in history that interest you, drop them in the comments! I'm always looking for new things to learn and write about. Have a great week!
Comments
Post a Comment