Lunch and Learn: Mouth to Mouth – The Tooth Trade in Washington’s World

In 1807, dentist John Greenwood imported 4,300 human teeth for 432 pieces of silver from a French Surgeon dentist. Greenwood constantly sought teeth to fill the increasing demand for dentures, bridges, and live tooth transplants, including crafting several sets of dentures for George Washington. Greenwood was not alone in this need as eighteenth and early nineteenth-century dentists frequently advertised to purchase human teeth, including Connecticut-based dentist Richard Skinner. Throughout the eighteenth century, the discourses around teeth dramatically shifted as new systems of meanings developed as white, straight, and complete teeth became associated with virtue and American republicanism.

In this virtual presentation, Lucy Smith, New England Regional Fellowship Consortium grantee, will examine how this ideological shift fueled a tooth trade that traces the movement of early dentists throughout Connecticut, across the ocean, and at the intimate level of teeth moving from one mouth to another.

This virtual event is free and open to the public. Click here to register.

Questions? Contact Public Programs and Special Events Coordinator, Jen Busa via email at jbusa@connecticutmuseum.org.