Dental Hygiene: Oral History
In the interests of historical research Lucy Worsley adopted the dental hygiene habits of previous centuries.
Every American schoolchild knows that George Washington, the first US President, wore false teeth made from hippopotamus ivory and cow tooth. During the Revolutionary Wars the capture in 1781 of his letter requesting cleaning tools for his dentures alerted the British forces to his whereabouts and this fact demonstrates how the smallest details of daily life have the capacity to determine the fate of empires. These tiny, seemingly trivial, details of domestic habits can also chart huge changes in society and medical understanding.
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