Weird Dental Superstitions, Beliefs, and Facts

While dental care is a serious business, it also has an entertaining and sometimes funny side.

One way to find entertainment in the dental arena, is to consider some of the strange things people have believed, and sometimes still do believe, and also to look at some of the funny/interesting facts that revolve around your teeth, mouth, and dental care.

With that in mind, Caringbah Dental Care provides this list of interesting dental ideas, history, and trivia.

Have fun!

Dental Myths

Myth #1: Kids are NOT inherently more prone to decay than adults. They just lack the motor skills needed to do a good job brushing. This is why Caringbah Dental Care stresses teaching your child good brushing techniques. You need to help them until they are coordinated enough to take care of it themselves.

Myth #2: Cures for toothache. Across history there have been many “cures” for toothache that seem ridiculous today. Here are a few of our favourite ‘cures’, from times gone by:

• “Spider juice” was a supposed toothache remedy “made of spiders, eggshells, and oil boiled together until reduced to one-third of its volume” that the toothache suffer held in his or her mouth. Sounds like it tasted terrible!
• If you trim your fingernails on a Friday, your annoying toothache will disappear for a week! If this worked, wouldn’t everyone just trim their nails every Friday?
• In the Middle Ages some people believed that a slice of onion applied to the ear on the side of the toothache would cure the pain.

Myth #3: Dentists judge your dental health. Not at Caringbah Dental Care! Our team is comprised of skilled and highly-trained professionals who help dental patients and don’t criticise or judge them. Our job is to make things better!

Myth #4: Oral health is just about the mouth. Simply not true – oral health is all about general health! Evidence links insufficient oral health to many other health problems. For instance, gum disease has been associated with pneumonia, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. If left untreated, bacteria in the mouth can reach the bloodstream and/or airway passages, leading to grave health conditions.

Myth #5: Cavities are caused by sweet foods. Actually, cavities are caused by carbohydrates acting together with bacteria to create acid byproducts. Carbohydrates do include sugars, but cavities can also be caused by bread crackers, and potato chips!

The boy with a mouthful of teeth. A seventeen-year-old Indian boy named Ashik Gavai suffered from pain and swelling and his local doctors didn’t know what to do. His parents took Ashik to dental specialists in Mumbai. The specialists made a disturbing discovery.

Ashik suffered from something called complex composite odontoma. A benign tumor had turned Ashik’s gums into a tooth production line. During a seven-hour operation, doctors removed 232 teeth! The surgeons discovered a “marble-like” brick of tooth material, which they used a hammer and chisel to break apart.

Danish King Harald Blatand liked blueberries so much that his teeth became blue. Today’s modern technology “Bluetooth” is named after Harald. His skill at uniting warring Scandinavian factions is memorialised in how Bluetooth unites wireless devices! In fact, the Bluetooth logo is a combination of the King’s Runic initials.

Strange dental requests. Sometimes, patients ask for the oddest things. Here are some of the strangest:

• Can you wire my mouth shut to help my weight loss program?
• I broke off my engagement. Can you place my diamond in my tooth?
• Will you give me local anesthesia in my lips? I’m going in for permanent lipstick tattoos on my lips and would like to avoid the pain?
• Can I keep extracted teeth as I’d like to make a necklace out of them?
• Can you give my dog braces?

The Great Escape. In 1994, a West Virginia prison inmate made a rope from braided dental floss, scaled the wall, and escaped! We hope he planned his oral hygiene practices just as successfully!

*Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.