Well, not just pirates I guess, but they do seem to be the biggest culprits. Anyway, how did people way back when get gold teeth? I mean, to the best of my knowledge, one can’t just jab a tooth up into an existing gap and have a new tooth. I know if it’s been knocked out recently, dentists can reset a lost tooth, but outside of that, once a tooth is gone (say, from skurvey), the crater in the jaw where the tooth was is too loose to support the tooth, and the gums fill up to as not to leave a big open wound, thus making it impossible to just stick something up in there. So how did they do it?
…and this knowledge, and the ability to make one, was out there in the days of Long John Silver?
Considering that the ancient Romans made false teeth and bridgework, yes, probably.