Dentistry and Dental Care in the Roman World

Sep 17, 2011
Sharon Brookshaw

A Roman Physician or Dentist - dfaulder

The history of dental care in the Ancient Roman world shows things were a lot different to visiting the dentist today

While the Romans cannot lay claim to being the first dentally advanced civilization - that honour lies with their earlier Tuscan neighbours, the Etruscans - they certainly practiced a form of dentistry, based on medical ideas inherited from the Greeks. Roman dental care was sophisticated for its time, and historian James Wynbrandt has described it as "the zenith of the ancient world's oral-care arts".

By the first century AD, Roman citizens in need of dental care could choose between a tooth-drawer (who would only pull teeth), a barber-surgeon (who would have concentrated on bloodletting and the cosmetic shaping of teeth) or a physician specializing in dentistry.

Roman Tooth Cleaning

Tooth powders - a mildly abrasive mixture used to scrub teeth clean - were already in existence before Rome came into being, and continued to be used by the Romans, often with flavouring agents being added to give fresher breath. There were no toothbrushes yet at this time, so the powders were applied with the fingers. Toothpicks would also have been available to help keep the mouth clean.

If that wasn't felt to be sufficient, Romans could also apply a mouthwash; the first urine of the day was promoted by medical experts of the time as having medicinal properties when rinsed around the mouth. The urine of young boys was, apparently, considered the best sort for this purpose.

Pain Relief and Other Remedies

One thing that hasn't changed in dentistry is the need to provide pain relief to patients. The noted physician Galen recorded that he used pickled root of chrysanthemum when carrying out tooth extractions. This should have deadened some of the pain and also caused damage to the surrounding gums, making it easier to remove the tooth causing the problem - although this concoction had to be applied carefully, lest it accidentally loosened healthy teeth as well.

Aulus Celsus - either a physician or a well-informed writer - notes in his De Medicina that figs can also be used as a remedy for toothache if used with wool and wrapped around the affected tooth. If this wasn't sufficient, a more powerful mixture that included cinnamon and opium poppies was recommended to give relief. Mandrake was also popular as a general painkiller during Roman times, and it would almost certainly have been used by dentists and those seeking relief from toothache alike.

Celsus also offered a treatment for mouth ulcers: mouth rinses made from weak vinegar and chewing unripe pears. If these didn't work, then the unfortunate patient was advised to have the ulcer cauterized with a red-hot poker.

Roman Dental Prostheses

The Roman world was noted for its marvels in engineering and construction - this applied to dental work as much as to roads and buildings. Basic dental bridges had already been invented by the Etruscans, and the Romans added crowns and artificial tooth replacements (ivory, bone and boxwood were among the materials used) to the range of appliances that could be used by dentists to help their patients.

Many dental prostheses contained gold, however, which was something of a problem to the Roman authorities. Roman wished to carefully preserve her supply of this precious metal, and having pieces of it regularly buried or cremated was seen as something of a waste. One of Rome's first written laws, the Law of the XII Tables from 450BC, explicitly addressed this concern. While any gold that was attached to the deceased's teeth could remain in the burial, any gold in removable dental appliances needed to be taken out and reused.

Some examples of Roman dental work have survived for archaeologists to find, such as the Roman women with bridgework held together with wire, who was found in a Necropolis in Italy in 2007 - her teeth also shown signs of an abrasive tooth powder having been used.