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Gold teeth are a form of dental prosthesis where the visible part of a tooth is replaced or capped with a prosthetic molded from gold. [1]
The first printed book on dentistry, Artzney Buchlein (or The Little Pharmacopaeia), was published by Michael Blum in 1530 in Leipzig. The book provides advice on treating tooth decay, recommending cleaning the cavity and filling it with gold leaf. This advice is attributed to Mesue, though his identity is uncertain. The use of gold leaf for dental fillings was confirmed by earlier Renaissance figures like Giovanni d'Arcoli and Giovanni da Vigo. [2]
Gold dental appliances have gone in and out of popularity as a status symbol for many years. Archeologists also found gold dental appliances from the Etruscan people of Italy, as early as 630 BCE, interpreting them to be some of the earliest forms of bridges and replacement teeth. Gold wire was used in dentistry in ancient times, [3] and for filling cavities in the 19th century. [4] Gold is suitable for dentistry because it is malleable, nearly immune to corrosion, and closely mimics the hardness of natural teeth, thereby causing no harm to natural teeth during chewing. [5] Gold was used before silver became available and has continued to be used for specialized purposes. [5] Dental restorations are often made from a combination of precious metals. [5]
As the dental industry adopted CAD/CAM processes for most of the crown and bridge fabrication, gold manufacturing still relied on the ancient "lost wax" technique, which requires a significant amount of time, skill, and labor. Recent developments have seen the advent of CAD/CAM milling of 100 mm diameter pucks of dental alloy to facilitate the direct milling of crowns and bridges from the solid puck. This effectively eliminated the risk and difficulty of the lost wax process and simultaneously improved upon the quality of the devices. [6]
In Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account, concentration camp survivor Dr. Miklós Nyiszli (who served on Dr. Josef Mengele's medical kommando) describes the "tooth-pulling kommando". These teams of eight, all "fine stomatologists and dental surgeons" equipped "in one hand with a lever, and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting teeth", worked in the crematoria. Stationed in front of the ovens, their job was to pry open the mouths of prisoners who had been gassed and extract, or break off, "all gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings". The teeth were collected and stored at the camp before being sent on to the Reichsbank to be melted down and converted into gold bullion, which could then be sold with no trace of its origin. [7]
Gold alloys are still used by dentists today. They most often combine gold with other metals such as palladium, nickel, or chromium to increase the strength of the crown.[ citation needed ]
Gold teeth were first present in America during the Jim Crow era. Originally, it had become a tradition in Louisiana before becoming a fashion trend around the Deep South region in the early 1900s. [8] After slavery, it was believed that many African Americans who were former slaves began getting the permanent gold caps to replace their rotting teeth that have deteriorated. It later became a symbol of wealth for ex-slaves who once worked on the plantation fields in the South, specifically Louisiana, where it first become a tradition. Blues, Jazz and freed slaves who had money would get the permanent gold cap fillings as a fashion statement as flaunted by Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion. [9] [10]
"In the 1800s, dentists started to use gold as material for filling teeth." Gold fillings are thought to be older than "amalgam fillings, and by extension, that makes them much older than composite or porcelain fillings." [11] [ better source needed ]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Ruchi Sahota, a dentist in Fremont, Calif., reports that gilded canines and incisors were common throughout the early and mid 1900s. “Gold was used very, very often, for routine dental procedures" for people. [12]
Britannica cites American dentist William Taggart who in 1907 introduced a precision machine that allowed dentists to create gold restorations with minimal tooth removal." [13]
In many regions of the world, including some parts of Eastern Europe[ where? ], Central Asia[ where? ], and the Caucasus Regions[ where? ], gold teeth are also worn as a status symbol. They are considered a symbol of wealth and sometimes installed in the place of healthy teeth or as crowns over filed-down healthy teeth.[ citation needed ]
Grills, false tooth covers made of metal, have become a popular hip hop fashion in the United States since the 1980s in New York City. In the early 2000s, grills were again popularized in hip hop videos by Nelly, Three 6 Mafia, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Paul Wall, and other rappers from the southern U.S. Gold grills are still being sported by rappers today and even include diamonds of various colors. Grills were also worn by Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, and Madonna. [14] While some rap musicians have had their gold teeth permanently attached to existing teeth, most people who purchase them for aesthetic purposes opt for removable gold teeth caps. [15] In 2005, Nelly released the rap single "Grillz" which promotes the dental procedure.
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the mouth, most commonly focused on dentition as well as the oral mucosa. Dentistry may also encompass other aspects of the craniofacial complex including the temporomandibular joint. The practitioner is called a dentist.
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in providing oral health services. The dental team includes dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental technicians, and sometimes dental therapists.
Dental products are specially fabricated materials, designed for use in dentistry. There are many different types of dental products, and their characteristics vary according to their intended purpose.
Cosmetic dentistry is generally used to refer to any dental work that improves the appearance of teeth, gums and/or bite. It primarily focuses on improvement in dental aesthetics in color, position, shape, size, alignment and overall smile appearance. Many dentists refer to themselves as "cosmetic dentists" regardless of their specific education, specialty, training, and experience in this field. This has been considered unethical with a predominant objective of marketing to patients. The American Dental Association does not recognize cosmetic dentistry as a formal specialty area of dentistry. However, there are still dentists that promote themselves as cosmetic dentists.
A bridge is a fixed dental restoration used to replace one or more missing teeth by joining an artificial tooth definitively to adjacent teeth or dental implants.
Dental restoration, dental fillings, or simply fillings are treatments used to restore the function, integrity, and morphology of missing tooth structure resulting from caries or external trauma as well as to the replacement of such structure supported by dental implants. They are of two broad types—direct and indirect—and are further classified by location and size. A root canal filling, for example, is a restorative technique used to fill the space where the dental pulp normally resides.
Dental porcelain is a dental material used by dental technicians to create biocompatible lifelike dental restorations, such as crowns, bridges, and veneers. Evidence suggests they are an effective material as they are biocompatible, aesthetic, insoluble and have a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. For certain dental prostheses, such as three-unit molars porcelain fused to metal or in complete porcelain group, zirconia-based restorations are recommended.
In dentistry, a crown or a dental cap is a type of dental restoration that completely caps or encircles a tooth or dental implant. A crown may be needed when a large dental cavity threatens the health of a tooth. Some dentists will also finish root canal treatment by covering the exposed tooth with a crown. A crown is typically bonded to the tooth by dental cement. They can be made from various materials, which are usually fabricated using indirect methods. Crowns are used to improve the strength or appearance of teeth and to halt deterioration. While beneficial to dental health, the procedure and materials can be costly.
A Kommando is a general term for special police and military forces in German, Dutch, and Afrikaans speaking nations.
Prosthodontics, also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry, is the area of dentistry that focuses on dental prostheses. It is one of 12 dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA), Royal College of Surgeons of England, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow, Royal College of Dentists of Canada, and Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. The ADA defines it as "the dental specialty pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of the oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth or oral and maxillofacial tissues using biocompatible substitutes."
In dentistry, inlays and onlays are used to fill cavities, and then cemented in place in the tooth. This is an alternative to a direct restoration, made out of composite, amalgam or glass ionomer, that is built up within the mouth.
In dentistry, a veneer is a layer of material placed over a tooth. Veneers can improve the aesthetics and function of a smile and protect the tooth's surface from damage.
In pop culture, a grill, also known as fronts or golds, is a type of dental jewelry worn over the teeth. Grills are made of metal and are generally removable but can also be permanent. They were popularized by hip hop artists in New York City in the early 1980s, and upgraded during the 1990s in Oakland, CA. They became even more widely popular during the mid-2000s due to the rise of Southern hip hop rap and the more mainstream pop culture status hip hop attained. Since then, grills have reached the mainstream; a "hard flex of both style and wealth, grillz have always been a symbol of power and social status – right from its origins that can be traced back to over 4,000 years ago." Sub-Saharan African people are said to have worn grills to show their status up until modern years. Although grills have been around for over 4,000 years, the rise and fall of their popularity at different times in different countries is a reflection of fashion trends.
CAD/CAM dentistry is a field of dentistry and prosthodontics using CAD/CAM to improve the design and creation of dental restorations, especially dental prostheses, including crowns, crown lays, veneers, inlays and onlays, fixed dental prostheses (bridges), dental implant supported restorations, dentures, and orthodontic appliances. CAD/CAM technology allows the delivery of a well-fitting, aesthetic, and a durable prostheses for the patient. CAD/CAM complements earlier technologies used for these purposes by any combination of increasing the speed of design and creation; increasing the convenience or simplicity of the design, creation, and insertion processes; and making possible restorations and appliances that otherwise would have been infeasible. Other goals include reducing unit cost and making affordable restorations and appliances that otherwise would have been prohibitively expensive. However, to date, chairside CAD/CAM often involves extra time on the part of the dentist, and the fee is often at least two times higher than for conventional restorative treatments using lab services.
Fixed prosthodontics is the branch of prosthodontics that focuses on dental prostheses that are permanently affixed (fixed). Crowns, bridges, inlays, onlays, and veneers are some examples of indirect dental restorations. Prosthodontists are dentists who have completed training in this specialty that has been recognized by academic institutes. Fixed prosthodontics can be used to reconstruct single or many teeth, spanning tooth loss areas. The main advantages of fixed prosthodontics over direct restorations are improved strength in big restorations and the possibility to build an aesthetic-looking tooth. The concepts utilised to select the suitable repair, as with any dental restoration, include consideration of the materials to be used, the level of tooth destruction, the orientation and placement of the tooth, and the condition of neighboring teeth.
A post and core crown is a type of dental restoration required where there is an inadequate amount of sound tooth tissue remaining to retain a conventional crown. A post is cemented into a prepared root canal, which retains a core restoration, which retains the final crown.
Adhesive dentistry is a branch of dentistry which deals with adhesion or bonding to the natural substance of teeth, enamel and dentin. It studies the nature and strength of adhesion to dental hard tissues, properties of adhesive materials, causes and mechanisms of failure of the bonds, clinical techniques for bonding and newer applications for bonding such as bonding to the soft tissue. There is also direct composite bonding which uses tooth-colored direct dental composites to repair various tooth damages such as cracks or gaps.
In dentistry, amalgam is an alloy of mercury used to fill teeth cavities. It is made by mixing a combination of liquid mercury and particles of solid metals such as silver, copper or tin. The amalgam is mixed by the dentist just before use. It remains soft for a short while after mixing, which facilitates it being snugly packed into the cavity and shaped before it sets hard.
Restorative dentistry is the study, diagnosis and integrated management of diseases of the teeth and their supporting structures and the rehabilitation of the dentition to functional and aesthetic requirements of the individual. Restorative dentistry encompasses the dental specialties of endodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics and its foundation is based upon how these interact in cases requiring multifaceted care. This may require the close input from other dental specialties such as orthodontics, paediatric dentistry and special care dentistry, as well as surgical specialties such as oral and maxillofacial surgery.
The pivot tooth is a fixed dental prosthesis used to rebuild a tooth. It is a type of crown-root foundation, but it is an independent supplement and usually consists of a pin or peg and a full crown permanently connected and placed in the patient's oral cavity during a single visit. It often includes a protective element called a ferrule.
