At the dawn of the United States, before modern dentistry had evolved, tooth pain could reach historic levels. Nearly every U.S. schoolchild has heard the story of George Washington and his wooden teeth. While the story has gained a level of fiction in the style of tall tales—the false teeth he had were not wooden—the […]

Many people are used to the idea of a tooth that feels superfluous. As we enter adulthood, our wisdom teeth come in, & a good chunk of us can’t fit them into our bite, leading to these molars being pulled. But some people experience an even greater abundance of teeth called supernumerary teeth, which are […]

While they no longer help form words, ancient people’s teeth can still tell us a lot about our shared history. Through preserved teeth, anthropologists & other scientists have been able to tell how we lived, who we were & what we ate. Teeth that survive the test of time illuminate a world long past.