When compared to how it used to be done, having a tooth pulled in this day and age is a breeze. Imagine living four hundred years ago when a barber, not a dentist, would have done the job.
Dentistry was first practiced some 9,000 years ago in the Indus Valley, where early humans used flint drills to remove rotting dental tissue. The ancient Egyptians were also busy dentists, prescribing superstitious remedies, such as holding a dead mouse in your mouth as a cure for a common toothache. Likewise, ancient Romans tried to maintain their teeth by forcing slaves to clean their mouths using sticks and special tooth powders.
People in the Middle-Ages were also concerned with keeping their teeth white and their breath smelling fresh. Writers of the time would publish recipes for a form of mint mouthwash as well as a tooth whitening powder which people would scrub onto their teeth. When a tooth needed to be pulled, however, people turned to the local barber, who performed all surgeries and yanked teeth out with a pair of pincers.
Thankfully, those days of dentistry are over. To schedule a 21st century appointment with a trained dental professional, contact us today.