Copy of Roman dental bridge, Europe, 1901-1930

Made:
1901-1930 in Europe
Roman dental bridge, upper, three teeth, copy Roman dental bridge, upper, three teeth, copy

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Roman dental bridge, upper, three teeth, copy
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Roman dental bridge, upper, three teeth, copy
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Roman dental bridge, upper, three teeth, copy, original excavated at Teano

Losing a tooth through accident, injury or infection can be very painful. False teeth can be made to fill the gap. A tooth was inserted into a metal bridge like this one, fixed with a metal pin and fitted on to the remaining teeth. Donor teeth were from animals or other people. Imagine eating with someone else’s teeth! Only wealthy people could afford this treatment. There were no specialist dentists, so dentistry was one of the duties of a physician.

The original dental bridge was found in Teano, Southern Italy.

Details

Category:
Classical & Medieval Medicine
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A646731
Materials:
metal and bone
Measurements:
overall: 20 mm x 50 mm x 10 mm,
type:
dental bridge