At Smiles Nambour we are extremely serious about our prophylactic, restorative, and cosmetic treatments. But this doesn’t mean we don’t have a lighter side.
In fact, we are quite proud of the pleasant mood we maintain at our practice. We believe serious skills and a light-hearted touch are just the thing to keep our patients, staff, and dentists happy as we work together to achieve maximal dental health.
But today we’re going to explore the lighter side of dentistry – things people mistakenly believe, bizarre historical misconceptions, and we’ll toss in a few fun facts.
Unusual Historical Dental Treatments
Toothaches have been around as long as we have, but before modern dental practice, treatment of them has been, well, pretty bizarre. Here are a few things that people used to believe could treat toothache.
Animals, of one kind or another, have often been thought of as cures to toothaches.
Frogs. One approach was frog/toad based. You could capture a toad and lick its stomach, capture a frog and spit in its mouth, or, if neither of these worked, you could settle for rubbing the frog on your face, near the toothache.
Earthworms. If frogs were difficult to come by, you could dig up a couple of earthworms, boil them, and pour the resulting solution in the ear on the same side as your toothache.
Mortal Remains. This one doesn’t seem worth it. Some people believed that if you pulled out the tooth of a dead person and put it on something around your neck your toothache would be cured. If that grisly approach was unsuccessful, another recommendation was to smell the tooth of a corpse to make your toothache disappear
So, folks in ancient times had some pretty weird beliefs, but is modern time any better? Of course, but we still believe some silly things!
Strange Modern Beliefs
Cavities in baby teeth don’t matter. Many people think baby teeth don’t matter since they baby teeth fall out to be replaced by adult teeth. But tooth decay can begin as soon as those teeth erupt and decay can cause not only cavities, but pain for your child, which can lead to trouble eating and even undernourishment. Baby teeth are also “placeholders” for adult teeth so they need to stay in the mouth until they fall out naturally.
You should rinse your mouth out with water after brushing your teeth. We should actually be following a practice of, ‘spit not rinse’ when brushing our teeth, as toothpaste contains many useful ingredients that protect our mouths throughout the day.
Women lose a tooth for each child they have. This is untrue. Hormonal changes during pregnancy can encourage bacteria in the mouth, causing bleeding gums or gingivitis. However, keep you good dental habits up and you won’t lose any teeth!
Interesting Dental Facts
Synthetic teeth. Doctors in China have had a breakthrough in growing synthetic teeth using stem cells, but in a kind of weird way. Chinese doctors managed to do it using urine samples!
The doctors manipulated the stem cells, coaxing them into becoming a different cell type that would form a tooth. As it is illegal to perform these experiments on humans they tried to transplant the cell into the jaw of a mouse, mixing the cells with the mouse’s.
The stem call managed to bring a 30% success rate showing some dental pulp and beginnings of tooth enamel but the experiments are far from complete success. Stem cells may need to come from a more reliable source before being transplanted into humans, as the urine stem cells can be prone to infection.
Toothpaste can be used to remove water stains. Everyone knows what can happen when water is left on wood for too long. A drink glass on a coffee table can leave an unsightly stain. With just a dab of non gel toothpaste and a soft rag, you can wipe the stain right off and give the wood back its natural beauty.
The Bluetooth wireless connection system has dental roots. “Bluetooth” is the English translation of “Blåtand”, which was an name for Harald I (Harald Blåtand Gormsson) of Denmark. Legend says he got this name as he was extremely fond of blueberries and ate them so regularly and in such a large amount that they stained his teeth blue.
We produce about 37,854 litres of saliva during our lives – enough to fill two swimming pools.
Dentistry at Smiles Nambour
Smiles Nambour is the perfect choice for dental care in the Nambour area. We provide top-notch dental services of all kinds to patients of every age! Our professional staff is dedicated to providing you with personalised, quality dental care.
Smiles Nambour offers a comprehensive array of general, restorative, and cosmetic dental services for you and your loved ones.
A visit to Smiles Nambour is an investment in your dental health and attractive smile!
Our Promotions
HCF’s More for Teeth Program
HCF’s More for teeth program is here to help you maintain great oral health. Available to all HCF members with Extras cover, it includes two fully covered check-ups and cleans each year.
Senior Discount
10% senior discount on all dental treatments.
Call us on (07) 5240 9410 or visit us at Shop 4, 2-4 Ann Street Nambour QLD 4560.
