The ancient Egyptians and Etruscans pioneered orthodontics, using delicate gold wires and braces to straighten teeth. It’s a story that has appeared in dental textbooks for decades, portraying our ancestors as surprisingly modern in their pursuit of the perfect smile. But when archaeologists and dental historians finally examined the evidence, they discovered that most of it is myth.
Take it El-Quatta Dental Bridge from Egypt, dating around 2500 BC. The gold wire found with ancient remains did not do at all what we thought. Instead of pulling teeth into alignment, these wires stabilized loose teeth or held replacements in place. In other words, they functioned as prosthetics, no braces.
Gold belts discovered in Etruscan tombs tell a similar story. They were probably dental braces designed to support teeth that have become loose from gum disease or injury, not devices for moving teeth into new positions.
There are some rather compelling practical reasons why these ancient devices could not have functioned as braces anyway. Tests on Etruscan devices revealed that the gold used was 97% pureand pure gold is extremely soft.
It bends and stretches easily without breaking, which makes it useless for orthodontics. Braces work by applying continuous pressure for long periods, requiring metal that is strong and elastic. Pure gold just can’t handle that. Try to tighten it enough to straighten a tooth and it will warp or break.
Then there is the curious matter of who wore those gold belts. Many found themselves with it skeletons of womensuggesting that they may have been status symbols or decorative jewelry rather than medical devices. saying, none they were discovered in the mouths of children or teenagers – exactly where you’d expect to find them if they were genuine orthodontics.
But perhaps the most fascinating revelation is this: ancient humans didn’t have the same dental problems we face today.
Malocclusion – the crowding and misalignment of teeth that is so common now – was extremely rare in the past. Studies of stone age skulls show approx not crowded. The difference lies in the diet.
Our ancestors ate hard, fibrous foods that required serious chewing. All this jaw work developed strong, large jaws, perfectly capable of holding all their teeth.
Modern diets, in contrast, are bland and processed, giving our jaws little exercise. The result? Our jaws are often smaller than those of our ancestors, while our teeth remain the same size, resulting in the crowding we see today.
Since crooked teeth were virtually non-existent in ancient times, there was almost no reason to develop methods to straighten them.
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That said, ancient people occasionally attempted simple interventions for dental abnormalities. The Romans provide one of the first reliable references to actual orthodontic treatment.
Aulus Cornelius Celsus, Roman medical writer in the first century AD. famous that if a child’s tooth came in wrongly, it should be gently pushed into place with the finger every day until it shifts into the correct position. Although basic, this method is based on the same principle we use today – gentle, continuous pressure can move a tooth.
After the Roman era, little progress was made for centuries. By the 18th century, however, interest in straightening teeth had revived, albeit through some rather painful methods.
Those without access to modern dental tools resorted to wooden ones “bulging wedges” to create space between overcrowded teeth. A small wedge of wood was inserted between the teeth. As the saliva was absorbed, the wood expanded, causing the teeth to split. Crude and torturous, perhaps, but it represented a step toward understanding that teeth could be repositioned through pressure.
Scientific Orthodontics
True scientific orthodontics began with the work of French dentist Pierre Fauchard in 1728. Often called the father of modern dentistry, Fauchard published a landmark two-volume book, The Dental Surgeoncontaining the first detailed description of the treatment of anomalies.
He developed the “bandeau” – a curved metal strip wrapped around the teeth to widen the dental arch. This was the first tool specifically designed to move teeth using controlled force.
Fauchard also described the use of floss to support teeth after repositioning. His work marked the critical shift from ancient myths and painful experiments to a scientific approach that eventually led to modern braces and clear aligners.
As dentistry progressed in the 19th and 20th centuries, orthodontics became a specialty. Metal brackets, archwires, elastics, and eventually stainless steel made treatment more predictable.
Later innovations – ceramic brackets, lingual brackets and clear aligners – made the procedure more discreet. Today, orthodontics uses digital scans, computer models, and 3D printing for highly accurate treatment planning.
The image of ancient people wearing gold and catgut braces is certainly attractive and dramatic, but it doesn’t match the evidence.
Ancient civilizations were aware of dental problems and occasionally attempted simple solutions. However, they had neither the need nor the technology to move the teeth as we do now.
The real history of orthodontics does not begin in the ancient world, but with the scientific discoveries of the 18th century and beyond – a history that is fascinating enough without the myths.
