Lower denture with human teeth, England, 1800-1870
- Science Museum, London
Available online
License
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence.
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) terms and conditions https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Credit: Lower denture with human teeth, England, 1800-1870. Credit: Science Museum, London. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
About this work
Description
Human teeth were in great demand for dentures during the Victorian period. Teeth pulled from willing volunteers could not meet the demand. A grislier source were bodies from European battlefields. Such teeth were known as ‘Waterloo teeth’ for much of the 1800s. This reflected the plentiful supply the famous battle provided. This denture also has human teeth fixed into it. It was made for the lower jaw and is carved from hippopotamus ivory. Dentures continue to replace teeth usually lost by illness, infection, poor diet or, in extreme cases, warfare. Ivory was expensive and could only be afforded by the wealthy. maker: Unknown maker Place made: England, United Kingdom
Contributors
Subjects
Identifiers
We’re improving the information on this page. Find out more.