As we’ve reported here before, modern man isn’t the only one who has gone to the dentist. 4,500-year-old bones were found in Mexico which contained dentures made from jaguar or wolf fangs. George Washington hated his ivory dentures?he would have really hated these!
Archeologists think the teeth may have only been ceremonial, a way of conveying animal strength to the human wearing them.
However, his real teeth HAD been removed, but they hadn’t been pulled out. Instead, they were cut off at the gums. In fact, scientists think he may have died from an infection due to that operation. Archeologist James Chatters says, “They cut his teeth off right down to gum and exposed the pulp cavity, and he had two abscesses in his mouth at the time he died. Blood poisoning is a possibility there.”
Art credit: freeimages.co.uk
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