Cavemen and Dentistry

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People of all ages nowadays absolutely despise and fear their regular attendances to their dentists. It is an idea that slips away all too often, though, that dentists should be more appreciated than they currently are.

Sitting in the lounge room, watching television with my family who are louder than the television set despite the fact that is is turned up quite high, I jumped in surprise as my father suddenly wailed in agony, bringing his hand up to his face and pressing it against his mouth. His painkiller dose wore off and the infected space that up until recently held a tooth in his gum began to throb. He quickly stood up and took some more painkillers and sat himself down onto the sofa again, two steps of pain away from breaking into tears. I watched and felt my own gums throb at the sight and sound of the pain. My father, in other circumstances than this, is a very strong man, unless stricken with the man flu, and to see him writhe in this state made the situation all too unsettling. A thought crossed my mind at that point in time: how did people manage tooth problems before dentists were in business? Did toothaches affect even the most powerful of cavemen? The most powerful of gladiators?

Dentistry allegedly dates back to 7,000 BC. Scientists have discovered sets of teeth, nine thousand years old, with holes drilled in them that are, according to anthropology professor David Frayer, "so perfect, so nice". Frayer went on to show these holes to his dentist, who "thought they were amazing holes". Unfortunately they did not have Tesla around to power their tools, nor did they have the ability to use anaesthesia, which was firstly ever used by a dentist in 1846.

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My father should be glad that the pain he is feeling comes from the aftermath of a long removed tooth, painless in its extraction. Had it not been for the mechanics of a simply bow drill, dentists would not have further developed their practice enough to the point where they could offer my father immediate relief. Tooth extraction developed in the form of many tools and upon viewing those tools, one sighs a deep sigh of relief, because one would rather have in their mouth a hygienic rubber and plastic instrument than a rusty metallic tool that can be used to break ice, and maybe even rock.

The next time I feel that all too familiar sensation of throbbing in my gum, I will not remember the brief history of dentistry barely examined above. I will not be thankful for our advancement in the art of toothache relieving. I will not be thankful for the advancement of dentist tools either. I will instead despise and fear for my life until the time comes where I do not need the dentist again.