7. Dead Soldier’s Teeth Were Popular Dentures
Wealthy residents of Regency England had rich diets full of fat and, most importantly for their teeth, sugar. Unfortunately for them, dental hygiene and practice was still incredibly rudimentary science. Consequently, the wealthiest people in the Regency Era had the worst teeth. Since rotted teeth were so widespread among the upper crust, dentistry was a booming industry. Jewelers, blacksmiths, wig makers, and other professions all jumped into the dentistry craze. False teeth were often crafted out of ivory, bone or porcelain at an incredibly high cost. The most expensive treatment was replacing a pulled rotten tooth with a live tooth, often from a live “donor” or fresh corpse, which spread disease.
In a morbid, yet fortunate, turn of events for those in need of teeth, over 47,000 soldiers died at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. After the battle was decided in favor of the English, people scoured the battlefield harvesting healthy teeth from the mouths of the fallen soldiers to make dentures for the wealthy back home. “Waterloo teeth” became incredibly prized for dentures since they came from mouths of healthy young men and were relatively unaffected by decay. The teeth would either be fitted into a single empty socket or crafted into dentures with an ivory base. While this treatment is horrifying, at least it didn’t spread disease.