# Washington's Chompers
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 29, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612 "2017-09-29T21:25:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/1 "2017-09-29T21:25:22Z")
Specifically, did George Washington take out his teeth before dining with White House guests? And if so, how did he manage conversations?
From what I understand, the poorly-fitted dentures of his time often had metal springs that allowed wearers to talk. (And I imagine that took some practice.) Eating, however, was another matter, and most wearers removed them beforehand. I assume GW gummed his way through the mutton and vegetables, but how did he speak distinctly during WH dinner table discussions with guests?
---
### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/2 "2017-09-29T22:17:49Z")
You know why no paintings exist of George Washington smiling? TERMITES!!!
However, the truth is Washington’s teeth were [never made of wood.](http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/wooden-teeth-myth/)
---
### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/3 "2017-09-29T22:54:42Z")
Nitpick: Washington never lived in the White House; it wasn’t completed until 1800, GW’s terms were over by then.
---
### Author:  [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/4 "2017-09-29T23:22:08Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> You know why no paintings exist of George Washington smiling? TERMITES!!!
>
> However, the truth is Washington’s teeth were [never made of wood.](http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/wooden-teeth-myth/)
Are any of the fun facts we absorbed as children true?
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/5 "2017-09-30T01:34:32Z")
Commanding General of the Continental Army, yup.
Cherry tree vandal, nope.
Throwing a dollar across the river, unlikely.
Walking three miles barefoot through the snows of Valley Forge to return a three-cent library book, almost certainly not.
---
### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/6 "2017-09-30T01:54:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> \Walking three miles barefoot through the snows of Valley Forge to return a three-cent library book, almost certainly not.
That was Lincoln\*, who was born in a log cabin he helped his father build. 😃
\*minus the Valley Forge part. And probably no snow, either.
---
### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/7 "2017-09-30T03:21:13Z")
Oh, geez, I knew better about the White House. Not a nitpick at all, burpo.
Kindly think of the question as referring to the Samuel Osgood House in NYC or the President’s House in Philly.
Thanks for the correction.
---
### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/8 "2017-09-30T05:21:16Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> That was Lincoln\*, who was born in a log cabin he helped his father build. 😃
Yep, and Davey Crockett was kilt in a bar when he was only three.
But not before he helped that nice Boone fellow start a farm, and cleaned up the waterfront with Bumper Tubbs.
I’ll never forget Miss Rosanna-Danna. Best history teacher I ever had.
---
### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/9 "2017-09-30T17:41:16Z")
Ben Franklin discovered electricity when he dropped a radio into the bath tub.
---
### Author:  [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/10 "2017-10-02T15:53:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Throwing a dollar across the river, unlikely.
You have to remember that money went further in those days.
---
### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/11 "2017-10-02T16:08:06Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Throwing a dollar across the river, unlikely.
In the story I heard, this helped him build a bridge across that river.
Which makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it.
---
### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washingtons-chompers/797612/12 "2017-10-02T17:08:01Z")
Actually, as the Mad Magazine cartoon says, Washington crossed the Delaware to look for the dollar he threw across. But then, throwing perfectly good money away set the tone for Washington DC ever after. (“If you want to find that dollar, you’ll have to drain the swap”.)
I thought that he chopped down the cherry tree so he could get the wood for a fresh set of teeth.
(The George Washington principle - “It’s easy to tell the truth when you’re the one holding the axe.”)