Facts for the Toothnuts

·        The first REAL DENTIST was Pierre Fauchard. In 1728 he wrote the first book about dentistry called “The Surgeon Dentist (Le Chirurgien Dentiste)”. Before him dentistry was like a club where you would pay someone to teach you all he knows about dentistry (which wasn’t much).

·        Dentist's Chair-In 1848, Waldo Hanchett patented the dental chair.

·        Dentist's Drill-On January 26, 1875, George Green patented the first electric dental drill

·        The first local anesthetic used in dentistry was Cocaine introduced as an anesthetic by Carl Koller in 1884

·        Alfred P. Southwick (a dentist) developed the idea of using electric current as a method of execution after having witnessed an intoxicated man die after having touched an exposed terminal on a live generator

·        An elephant’s molar is 1 foot wide (30cm) and weighs almost 10 pound (about 5 kg).

·        The toothbrush is 500 years old

·        More people use a blue toothbrush than a red toothbrush

·        You will spend 38.5 days brushing your teeth in your life

·        Toothpaste was invented 100 years ago – so people brushed for 400 years without it

·        Year commercial floss was first manufactured: 1882

·        Material it was first made of: silk

·        Newest material: Gore-tex

·        Amount bought per person: 18 yards

·        Amount that should be bought per person: 122 yards (figuring one foot a day)

·        In 1994 a prison inmate in West Virginia braided floss into a rope, scaled the wall and escaped

·        According to a study carried out by the Association of American Press

o       50% of people consider the smile the first facial feature they notice

o       80% are not happy with their smile

o       Respondents were 7 times more likely to have periodontal, smile enhancement procedures,
than facelifts

o       Smile enhanced procedures outnumbered eyelid surgeries 5 to 1

o       73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss.

·        90% of systemic diseases have oral manifestations.

·        Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different.

·        The average woman smiles about 62 times a day. A man?  Only 8!

·        Kids laugh 400 times a day. Adults around 15 times a day

·        Smilers in school yearbooks are more likely to have successful careers and marriages than poker faced peers

·        More than 51 million hours of school are lost each year by children due to dental related illness

·        Employed adults lose more than 164 million hours of work each year due to oral health problems or dental visits

·        According to a 1997 Gallup Poll, dentistry is the fifth most trusted profession in America. Another recent Gallup Poll indicated that dentists generally get high marks from consumers for their interpersonal skills and delivery of quality care

·        Dentists rate big (61%) in ethics poll for honesty and trustworthy

·        Americans spent nearly $2.025 billion on Halloween candy this year. That would fund the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for almost six years.

·        $1.8 Billion dollars is the total annual consumer spending on toothpaste.

·        $775 Million dollars is the total annual consumer spending on toothbrushes.

·        $885 Million dollars if the total annual consumer spending on oral antiseptics/rinses

·        The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton.  In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633.00 or in today's terms $35,700.00. The tooth was set in a ring.

·        More than 300 types of bacteria make up dental plaque.

·        China sets aside September 20th as a national holiday known as “Love Your Teeth Day.”

·        Brief History of the Dentist:

o       Dentistry BC - All cultures of the world blamed toothaches on one of three causes:  tooth demons, tooth worms, or humors (unbalanced body fluids).  Dentistry was more than likely first practiced by a priest who used prayers to bring about a cure.

o       Dentistry early AD - Romans began to use gold crowns on teeth.  In Greece, Aristotle was the first to make a study of the comparative anatomy of teeth and mentioned the extraction (pulling) of teeth with forceps. Around 15AD a Roman physician Archigenes made a statement that some of the causes of the toothache were from inside the tooth. Around 30AD Celsus another Roman physician was the first to put a filling (of lead) in to the cavities of teeth.  However, he was not doing this to save them but to keep them from breaking when he got ready to pull them.

o       Dentistry Middle Ages - during the Early Middle Ages in Europe medicine, monks who were the most educated people of the period generally practiced surgery, and dentistry.  However, between 1130-1163 AD monks were prohibited from performing any type of surgery, bloodletting or tooth extraction.  Barbers often assisted monks in their surgical ministry because they visited monasteries to shave the heads of monks and the tools of the barber trade—sharp knives and razors—were useful for surgery. Quack dentists where very common during the Middle Ages.

o        Dentistry Present time – There are now many times of specialty ranging from the what surrounds the tooth to what’s in the tooth