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The Beginnings of a Profession

Before we had the convenience of making an appointment to see a Dentist or go to a store for toothpaste, humans had to rely on what was available such as different herbs, roots and harsh abrasives for cleaning.


The earliest written record of dentistry appears to be a Sumerian text from 5000 B.C.E. that describes "tooth worms" as the causal agent of the dental decay.
Hesy-Re (or Hesi-Re) is often called "the first dentist". He lived in Egypt and died about 2600 B.C.E. His tomb has an inscription stating" the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians."
A finding dated to about 2750 B.C.E. in Egypt suggests a surgical procedure, with a mandible with two perforations below the root of the first molar suggesting drainage of an abscessed tooth, as well as gold wires found holding two teeth.
The Ebers papyrus, a huge roll of more than 20 meters long and 30 cm wide, also discusses dental diseases and treatments. This text traces to about 1700 to 1350 B.C.E., although there are suggestions of dates as early as 3000 B.C.E.. Some information contained in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, dated to about 1600 B.C.E., also deals with treatment of several dental ailments. Hammurabi's Code contains some references to dental procedures and fees. Examining the remains of some ancient Egyptians and Greco-Romans reveal early attempts at dental prosthetics and surgery.
Hippocrates (ca. 460 B.C.E. – ca. 370 B.C.E.) and Aristotle (384 B.C.E. – 322 B.C.E.) both wrote about dentistry. Dentures first appeared in Sidon and Tuscany around 630 B.C.E..


Mayan jade inlay in an anterior tooth, circa A.D. 900
500-1000—During the Early Middle Ages in Europe medicine, surgery, and dentistry, are generally practiced by monks, the most educated people of the period
700—A medical text in China mentions the use of “silver paste,” a type of amalgam.
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