OK, fellow dopes help me out. A couple of years ago I was in Philly and the tour guide told us that George Washington did not have false teeth. Since then I have run into many a folk that swear he did have false teeth. I ran a search and I couldn’t find anything on whether or not it had ever been discussed or I couldn’t find if Cecil covered it.
So did he?
I think Cecil covered it, and if not I definitely remember reading it in this fun fact book about presidents. Accroding to that book, the teeth were not made simply out of wood as legend has it now, but they were made from wood, ivory, even other HUMAN TEETH! Freaky, huh? Dentistry’s come a long way. I think there might’ve been a few more things in there too.
There was a segment about this on History Channel’s program “History’s Lost and Found”, but I’ve forgotten where his false teeth are. However, IIRC, he never had wooden teeth. As pez said, his teeth were ivory or from cadavers. Also, he had lost all or all except one of his teeth by the time he was president.
I can’t find this subject in Cecil’s column archive, either.
Washington had a couple of different set of dentures. One set was made up of a cow’s tooth, one of Washington’s own teeth, some hippo ivory, metal, and springs. None of the sets fit well and were undoubtedly uncomfortable, probably why he always has that pinched look and never smiles.
If you want to see a set for yourself, go to the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery or Mount Vernon. Two of the three known sets are in these places. The last set is in the hands of the descendants of Washington’s dentist, John Greenwood.