subject: Dentistry From 7000bc To Present Day [print this page] Incredible as it may sound historians have been able to find references to dentistry from as far back as 7000BC. During this time the Indus Valley population used to treat common dental issues using a primitive type of drill. The people who performed this early type of dental treatment are thought to have been bead craftsmen. It is also thought that, despite the primitive nature of the treatment, it was very effective.
It appears from what has been found by archaeologists that the Egyptians and Greeks were the first users of dental prosthetics and dental surgery. Hippocrates and Aristotle wrote extensively about dentistry and we can see from their writings that although primitive in nature, dental treatment was a regular occurrence for the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. They extracted teeth with forceps, treated gum and tooth decay and treated loose teeth with wire.
From the middle ages up until the late 19th century, dentistry was still not yet considered to be a stand-alone profession. Dental treatment was typically performed by barbers and physicians, who performed teeth extractions to alleviate the pain associated with tooth infection.
The first known book to focus purely on the art dentistry was written in 1530, and the first one written in English was written by Charles Allen in 1685. Between this date and the early eighteen hundreds was a period of great development for the dental world. The man said to have started dentistry as we know it today is a Frenchman called Pierre Fauchard. He first pioneered the use of dental fillings and pinpointed sugar and acids as the main causes of tooth decay.
Dentist Surrey, Jiva Dental, know all about the history of dentistry. They believe that we are currently going through the era of cosmetic dentistry: "In the last ten to fifteen years our profession has changed so much. More and more people are now looking after their teeth properly and as a result we are seeing an increase in the numbers of people looking for cosmetic dentistry rather than other forms of dental treatment.
by: Tim Hibbert
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