Crow's bill dental forceps

Made:
1801-1910 in Macedonia
Group shot on dark backgrund showing from left to right A621720

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Group shot on dark backgrund showing from left to right A621720
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Crow's bill dental forceps, steel, crude, for lower roots, owned by a Sarajevo barber surgeon, Yugoslavia

Dental forceps used for tooth pulling have been around for centuries. These crow’s bill forceps (on the left) are crudely made and are so called because of their shape. They would have been used to remove the roots of the teeth and were owned by a barber-surgeon located in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly part of Yugoslavia. Tooth pulling was carried out by a range of people including barber-surgeons and travelling practitioners and was the only remedy for diseased teeth. Dentistry did not become a regulated and licensed profession until the late 1800s. They are shown here with another pair of dental forceps (A621720).

Details

Category:
Dentistry
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A86892
Materials:
complete and iron
Measurements:
overall: 15 mm x 155 mm x 38 mm, 0.108 kg
type:
dental forceps