An Inside Look at George Washington’s Teeth
George Washington is popular not only for being one of the founding fathers of the USA but also for his unspoken contribution to the dental health industry. He was indeed a man of strong character and reputation but problems with his oral cavity restricted him from being a man of many words and many smiles.
Mount Vernon is a popular historical site where the first president of the United States of America lived. It is also the place where his magnificently preserved set of dentures are kept. It is believed that he wore them all through his presidential terms. Next to his dentures are his famously known scripted words “At home all day- not well. Still indisposed with an aching tooth and swelled and inflamed gum.” These words are thought to have been taken from one his journal entries.
Had he been around in our time, he would have had his dental issues solved with dentures in Midtown Manhattan at Ebenezer Dental. He would have received complete dentures that would have served justice to both his upper and lower jaw perfectly.
George Washington’s frequently inflamed gums and abscessed tooth led him to lose many teeth very early in life. His habit of penning down his dental problems provides informative insight into just how much misery he endured. He once paid five shillings to have his tooth removed in his early twenties. His dental problems were not due to a lack of hygiene; on the contrary, he took his dental hygiene extra-seriously. Apparently, his was a combination of bad genes and being born at a time before when proper dentures were still in their rudimentary stages of development.
When he took office, he only had a single premolar which was later removed and put together with his artificial teeth. In his diary, he still continued to pour down his predicament on how frequently he lost his teeth, how painfully they ached, how the inflamed gums misshaped his face, the problems he had with poorly fixed dentures and even the side effects of certain medications he received for his frequently aching teeth. His teeth were a heavy burden to him for most of his life.
The rumor about his dentures being made of wood caught on and lived on for decades until scientists managed to prove it otherwise. His teeth were made of lead, cow teeth, hippopotamus or elephant ivory and human teeth but not wood.
Before he settle for his dentures, he went through months of fixing and correcting a wrongly fixed denture, something he would have easily avoided had he had the chance to get dentures in Midtown Manhattan at Ebenezer Dental. He would have had his teeth replaced using removable bridges which are simple to wear, comfortable, safe and long lasting.
He would have liked the design made by Ebenezer Dental. They ensure that three goals: therapeutic, secondary prophylaxis and cosmetic are reached. They do this by applying a foundation that bears a striking resemblance with the individual’s gums and then plant the artificial teeth on top making them indistinguishable from natural teeth.
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