Craziest Dental Inventions From History

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Do your patients get frightened when they see the padded chair, the sharp tools in your hand, and the maniacal glint in your eyes? Probably, but they should be thanking their lucky stars that you have the benefit of advanced technology and years of school. Dentists in the past were basically that guy who was a little too interested in teeth, and had no problem causing immense physical pain in other people. The dental profession has come a long way, is what we’re saying. And if your patients saw some of the ways people operated on patients in the past, well, they would be begging for an appointment with you.

The Bow Drill

Right away, the words here don’t add up. A bow, but also a drill? This instrument was used thousands of years ago, and your patients probably wouldn’t be happy with either part of its name. Have you ever seen nature documentaries where someone starts a fire with a bow and a stick? Yeah, it’s basically the same thing, but it happens in your mouth.

The Dental Key

This one sounds a little friendlier, right up until you find out what it actually is. A dental key was an instrument that looked a little like a key (surprise). The dental key was used to remove teeth. The tooth would be fitted in between the shaft of the key and one of its “teeth.” Then the dentist would twist it quickly to remove the tooth. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t a totally effective method, and often the tooth ended up chipped, but very much still in place.

Bristle Toothbrush

Seems like the toothbrush would be a pretty recent invention, but the very first toothbrush dates back to the Tang Dynasty in China over 1000 years ago. Sounds great, other than the fact that the bristles were made out of boar and horse bristle. It wasn’t until 1938 that the first nylon bristle toothbrush went on sale. Imagine where we’ll be in another 1000 years.

Just a few hundred years ago, people were subjected to intense pain when they had to visit a dentist. Some things never change! Just kidding, the pain usually isn’t intense anymore. And even a little bit of pain can be forgotten when a patient is distracted by their favorite movie. With the Molar Media Mount, you can easily install a mount for your tablet, and stream movies that will distract your patient while you ready the bow drill from just outside their vision.

If you’d like to hear more about the Molar Media Mount, contact us today!

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