After I exhausted the information I was able to obtain on the history of toilet paper, I elected to move to another facet of hygiene; that of the mouth. Unlike with my research of bathroom sanitation, I was able to find a plethora of information on dental hygiene. It was more information than I could have ever hoped to find. Due to this exhaustive amount of information, I elected to break down the research into a series of blog posts.
The purpose of this series is to document what was used by our predecessors. I will look at the similarities and differences in the methods and ingredients used and determine what, if any, modern applications there are for them. The posts will be organized so that each time period/region is broken into two separate blogs. The first is to document the recipes and discuss similarities in them, and the second is to break down the components and discuss their modern applications. At the end of this series, I will compile all of the data into one academic paper.
Be advised that under the advice of my dentist, I have not tried any of these. We have agreed to shelf the experiments until such time as all of the dental procedures I need to have done are completed and my gums have had a chance to heal sufficiently. Therefore, I will be unable to speak to the effectiveness of any of these particular methods. Once I have been given the all clear, a third post will be done for each section.
This first post is focused on Rome and Greece through the 7th century, particularly the works of Hippocrates, Pliny the Elder, and Paulus Aegineta.
Hippocrates Said What?
Hippocrates, know as the father of medicine, was born in 460BC. He wrote much on the infirmities of the human body and dedicated an entire work on the diseases of women, entitled. De Morbis Mulierum, or The Diseases of Women . In this work, he discusses the oral hygiene. In A History of Dentistry From the Most Ancient Times Until the end of the Eighteenth Century, I found a translation which states:
When a woman’s mouth smells and her gums are black and un healthy,
one burns, separately, the head of a hare, and three mice, after having
taken out the intestines of two of them (not, however, the liver or the
kidneys); one pounds in a stone mortar some marble or whitestone,
and passes it through a sieve; one then mixes equal parts of these
ingredients and with this mixture one rubs the teeth and the interior
of the mouth; afterward one rubs them again with greasy wool and one
washes the mouth with water. One soaks the dirty wool in honey and with
it one rubs the teeth and the gums, inside and outside. One pounds dill
and anise-seeds, two oboles of myrrh; one immerses these substances
in half a cotyle of pure white wine; one then rinses the mouth with it,
holding it in the mouth for some time; this is to be done frequently, and
the mouth to be rinsed with the said preparation fasting and after each
meal. It is an excellent thing to take small quantities of food of a very
sustaining nature. The medicament described above cleans the teeth
and gives them a sweet smell. It is known under the name of Indian
medicament. (1)
Note: I am currently looking for classes to learn Latin so I can do my own translations. If anyone knows of any online resources, please reach out to me.
Pliny Has Much to Say
Gaius Plinius Secundus, known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman scholar is believed to have been born in 23AD. A contemporary of Hippocrates, he had much to say about tooth care. He published 37 volumes regarding the natural sciences between 77 and his death in 79. These included passages on oral hygiene, three of these are outlined in this work.
Book XI, The Various Types of Insects Chapter 105 states “The grandees, however, of that nation have a remedy for bad breath in the pips of the Assyrian citron, which they mix with their food, and the aroma of which is particularly agreeable.” (2)
In Book XXV, The Natural History of the Wild Plant Pliny dedicates all of Chapter 105 to “The Remedies for the Diseases of the Teeth”.
The following are remedies for diseases of the teeth” root of panaces,
chewed, that of the chironion in particular, and juice of the panaces,
used as a collutory; root, too, of henbane, chewed with vinegar, and root
of polemonia. The root of plantago is chewed for a similar purpose, or
the teeth are rinsed with a decoction of the juice mixed with vinegar. The
leaves, too, are said to be useful for the gums, when swollen with sanious
blood, or if there are discharges of blood there-from. The seed, too, of
plantago is a cure for abscesses in the gums, and for gum-boils. Aristolochia
has a strengthening effect upon the gums and teeth; and the same with
vervain, either chewed with the root of that plant, or boiled in wine and
vinegar, the decoction being employed as a gargle. The same is the case,
also, with root of cinquefoil, boiled down to one third, in wine or vinegar;
before it is boiled, however, the root should be washed in sea or salt water:
the decoction, too, must be kept a considerable time in the mouth. Some
persons prefer cleaning the teeth with ashes of cinquefoil.
The root of verbascum is also boiled in wine, and the decoction used for
rinsing the teeth. The same is done too with hyssop and juice of peucedanum,
mixed with opium; or else the juice of the root of anagallis, the female
plant in particular, is injected into the nostril on the opposite side to that in
which the pain is felt. (3)
Chapter 49 of Book XXVII A Description of Plants, and of the Remedies Derived From Them bears some similarities to Hippocrates, recommending burning the bones of animals into ash to cleanse the teeth. He conjectures that the pastern-bone of an ox “reduced to ashes, and mixed with myrrh, is also used as a dentifrice.” This chapter also speaks about using bone ash in the cure of toothaches and to strengthen loosening teeth. The chapter is ended with a simple direction for the care of the teeth stating that “It is, considered, also a very efficacious remedy to wash the teeth with goats’ milk, or bull’s gall. The pastern-bones of a she-goat just killed, reduced to ashes, and indeed, to avoid the necessity for repetition, of any other four-footed beast reared in the farmyard, are considered to make an excellent dentifrice.” (4)
The Last of the Great Ancient Greek Medical Authors
Paulus Aegineta, 625 to 690, wrote Epitomae medicae libri septem translated as Medical Compendium in Seven Books was a compilation of works that included virtually everything known about Western medicine during his time. While he did not write as much as Pliny, he also had much to say about oral care.
Aegineta believed that what you ate affected the health of your teeth. This is the first instance I have found so far in which one of the ancient masters cautioned against eating particular foods because they could be harmful to the health of the teeth.
The teeth will not decay if the following things be attended to : In the first
place, to avoid indigestion, and frequent repetitions of emetics. Guard
against such food as is hurtful to the teeth, as dried figs, honey boiled,
so as to become very hard, dates which are difficult to rub down, and all
glutinous substances ; likewise such things as are difficult to break, and
may thereby loosen the teeth; in like manner also, such substances as set
the teeth on edge, and every thing which is cold and putrid. The teeth also
ought to be cleaned after supper. (5)
Asserting that the cleaning of the teeth was also important to keep the teeth healthy, Aegineta prescribed several dentifrices for that purpose. “The burnt roots of birthwort, burnt hartshorn, with some mastich. Another : — White salts mixed with honey, and wrapped in the leaves of the fig-tree, and burnt until reduced to ashes. Another : — Buccina filled with salt and burnt ; land snails burnt with honey ; unwashed wool burnt with a little salts. With each of these, for the sake of fragrance, let there be mixed the schenanth, or spikenard, Indian leaf (malabathrum) , or Cyprus, or iris.” (6)
Comparisons
One of the first things I noted while working on this part of the project was that each had a burnt element. Hippocrates used the skulls of hares and mice, Pliny used the pastern-bones of ox and she-goats and Aegineta used hartshorn, which was made from the horn of a deer. I can only imagine that this was used as an abrasive agent. In the absence of bone, other burnt elements as employed, such as roots, bark, and leaves.
There were other components that were used by two, while the third took another path. For example, honey is used by Hippocrates and Aegineta, but not Pliny. Hippocrates and Pliny both used wine or vinegar in their preparations, but Aegineta preferred to stick with honey.
My next post will break down these recipes further and discuss what, if any of the components have modern applications in oral hygiene, including any health benefits or risks that might arise from their regular ingestion. If you have a specific ingredient or preparation you would like me to focus on, please send me a message at charity.dale (at) gmail (dot) com
End Notes
(1) A History of Dentistry From the Most Ancient Times Until the end of the Eighteenth Century, Vincenzo Guerini, p 50
(2) Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder, Delphi Classics 2015, p 1008
(3) Ibid. p 2409
(4) Ibid, p 2727
(5) The Medical Works of Paulus Aegineta, the Greek Physician p 18
(6) Ibid, p 283
Sources
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder, Delphi Classics 2015
Guerini, Vincenzo; A History of Dentistry From the Most Ancient Times Until the end of the Eighteenth Century, Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, 1909
Adams, Francis The Medical Works of Paulus Aegineta, the Greek Physician, J. Welsh; Treuttel, Würtz & Co., London, 1834