Most folk's teeth were very bad. Yes, there was tooth powder, but I wonder how many folk took advantage of it? Ground charcoal was also used for tooth powder as well.

One could also purchase tooth powders at the local apothecary shop. It usually came in a porcelain tub or pot - the tops of which are now called "pot lids" and are very collectable. I have a couple which I've purchased at antique shows. They are very collectable in England. One could also acquire in addition to tooth powders or tooth paste (which incidentally was called a dentifrice creme and invented in the 1850s) at the shops as well as shaving creme, pomade, etc.




Porcelain Tooth Paste Pot




Porcelain Tooth Paste Tub


I have read that Mrs. Surratt's teeth were also bad. We know that Lew Powell had dental problems. Most folk did - young and old. Nowadays it's difficult to find a 20 year old kid with really bad teeth. I, too had heard that a lot of barbers were outright dentists as well. But then the famous (or infamous) Doc Holliday, a Georgian, was a certified dentist - graduating from the Pennsylvania Dental College in 1872. An interesting side note to Holliday is that GWTW's author, Margaret Mitchell, was related to Holliday and was his cousin by marriage.

I have read that Mrs. Surratt's teeth were also bad. We know that Lew Powell had dental problems. Most folk did - young and old. Nowadays it's difficult to find a 20 year old kid with really bad teeth. I, too had heard that a lot of barbers were outright dentists as well. But then the famous (or infamous) Doc Holliday, a Georgian, was a certified dentist - graduating from the Pennsylvania Dental College in 1872. An interesting side note to Holliday is that GWTW's author, Margaret Mitchell, was related to Holliday and was his cousin by marriage.
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Work with me for a week. Dental Hygiene in the rural areas of western Virginia and West Virginia harken back to these days of old.

(06-15-2013 04:48 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Wow, that sounds like a dental nightmare. Nice reference Roger! I wonder what condition his teeth were. I know during the Civil War, there existed tooth powder for the troops. I also chuckle thinking this: weren't the local dentists also barbers?

I don't know about America, but in Europe people went to barbers and blacksmiths to have teeth torn out. As to Washington's false teeth: they were made of ivory, lead and - human teeth. Former dentists got them from tomb raiders and dealers who searched battlefields.

Quote:Work with me for a week. Dental Hygiene in the rural areas of western Virginia and West Virginia harken back to these days of old.

OMG - I didn't realize....at least no kids here in the Hanover/Richmond area have bad teeth that I know of.... at least not those that I know/have known....

My paternal grandfather was born in 1868 and died long before I was born. However, my dad used to tell me that his father never used anything but fireplace ashes to brush his teeth. He died just shy of his 70th birthday and still had all of his teeth and had never had a cavity. He was from a farming area outside a little town named Gretna in south central Virginia -- in the days before fluoride...

(06-15-2013 07:16 AM)BettyO Wrote:  

Quote:Work with me for a week. Dental Hygiene in the rural areas of western Virginia and West Virginia harken back to these days of old.

OMG - I didn't realize....at least no kids here in the Hanover/Richmond area have bad teeth that I know of.... at least not those that I know/have known....

I don't know about 20 year-olds, but the five and six year-olds in my class (mostly from migrant families) often make me want to cry.

(06-15-2013 06:34 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(06-15-2013 04:48 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Wow, that sounds like a dental nightmare. Nice reference Roger! I wonder what condition his teeth were. I know during the Civil War, there existed tooth powder for the troops. I also chuckle thinking this: weren't the local dentists also barbers?

I don't know about America, but in Europe people went to barbers and blacksmiths to have teeth torn out. As to Washington's false teeth: they were made of ivory, lead and - human teeth. Former dentists got them from tomb raiders and dealers who searched battlefields.

Going to the blacksmith for dental work? Having false teeth partially made of lead? Boy, are we blessed!

Hello everyone! New member here! I thought I would chime in and say I saw this sculpture in person at the Ronald Reagan Library and it is breathtaking. the whole Lincoln exhibit was brilliant.

Welcome Tayllor P.! We're a friendly, enthusiastic group, here....I think you'll like us!

That is indeed a breath-taking sculpture! Thanks for the great photo - I'd love to see this and wish they'd take it on a traveling exhibit around the country. Everyone needs to see this!

Thank you for posting. Welcome to the forum, Tayllor!

We owe so much to sculptor Volk- who did the first life-mask of Lincoln. Looking at the pictures of the two very realistic faces of Lincoln- one can see both are based on Volk's work. Thank goodness we have the Volk mask.

Tooth powder was pretty primitive and sometimes harsh stuff. Sometimes the ingredients included lye and ash. I believe a long time ago, our very own and knowledgeable Ms. Betty talked about Lewis Powell's teeth, using him as a good example of why no one, and we mean no one, ever gave a big toothy smile for the camera.

I wonder what the condition of Lincoln's teeth were? Did the doctors make any comments about it during the autopsy?

(07-30-2013 07:10 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  Tooth powder was pretty primitive and sometimes harsh stuff. Sometimes the ingredients included lye and ash. I believe a long time ago, our very own and knowledgeable Ms. Betty talked about Lewis Powell's teeth, using him as a good example of why no one, and we mean no one, ever gave a big toothy smile for the camera.

Well.....almost no one
http://iheartpainting.files.wordpress.co...-louie.jpg

Whoa! That's the stuff nightmares are made of. You should have given some sort of caution alert!