Exhibition highlights from Teeth

We’ve selected these eight objects and artworks to give you a taste of what was on offer at ‘Teeth’.

Barber-surgeon’s chair

Photograph of a wooden barber-surgeon's chair on a blue plinth in the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome Collection. — Tooth-pulling was viewed with a certain disdain by the established medical profession. From the Middle Ages the dirty work of surgery was more commonly performed by barbers. Armed with a razor and other tools for cutting and wrenching, they took on tasks from trimming hair to amputating limbs – and pulling teeth.

Napoleon’s toothbrush

Photograph of Napoleon's toothbrush displayed on a thin post within an exhibition display case as part of the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome Collection. — The silver-gilt handle of this toothbrush from the late 18th century is engraved with Napoleon's coat of arms. His biographer F Masson maintained that Napoleon would brush carefully morning and night, and clean his tongue with a silver scraper.

Anaesthesia oil painting

Photograph of an oil painting on display in the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome collection. The oil painting shows a dentist anaesthetising a patient by placing a cloth soaked in ether over his mouth. — In 1845 William Morton was party to a disastrous public demonstration of "painless tooth extraction" using nitrous oxide, which left its volunteer screaming in agony. The following year he persuaded one of his patients, Eban Frost, to undergo an extraction, this time in private and using ether.

Aluminium wartime dentures

Photograph of an upper set of aluminium dentures in an exhibition case. — While interned in a Burmese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, an RAF corporal had his acrylic dentures smashed by prison guards. Aluminium replacements were made with metal stolen from a fallen Japanese fighter plane.

Phantom head

Photograph of a phantom head dental teaching aid in the exhibition Teeth. — Trainee dentists at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands have been honing their skills on this wooden head, set with real human teeth, since the late 1800s. The teeth have been removed and replaced over the years, with newly extracted teeth sourced from local dentists.

Dental training tools

Photograph of an exhibition case containing jumbo models of dental training tools and teeth. — To enhance clarity and visibility when demonstrating procedures to camera, teachers at the School of Dentistry at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands sometimes made use of oversized models of the mouth, teeth and dental instruments.

Letters to and from the Tooth Fairy

Photograph of a framed letter to the Tooth Fairy from a child, part of the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome Collection. — We are never more aware of our teeth than when we are children and our baby teeth wobble and fall out. The elusive Tooth Fairy goes by many names. Letters posing questions, seeking reimbursement or offering excuses sometimes even get a reply. View a selection or submit your own letter for inclusion.

Spittoon

Photograph of spittoon on display in the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome Collection. — The awkward invitation for patients to swish and spit is also a welcome sign that your time in the dentist's chair is up. Improved hygiene standards and the difficulty of aiming with numb lips hastened the introduction of more mobile spittoons with running water and even sterilisable suction funnels.

Teeth was at Wellcome Collection in London from 17 May–16 September 2018.