I've got a vague memory of hearing some terrible statistic about the proportion of people in the Middle Ages who suffered from tooth ache. Its amazing they ever got anything done. Though perhaps there were just less wimpy and got on with it.
I wasted a bit of time looking for a striking statistic for you and it didn't pop out of Google, but I thought this was moderately interesting:
Analysis of skeletons from the post-medieval (1843-1854) catholic mission of Sts. Mary and Michael, Whitechapel, London has revealed high rates of dental disease. Eighty one percent of adults showed evidence of dental caries, 90.7% had calculus, 78.6% suffered from periodontal disease, 35.9% had dental abscesses, 77.8 % had lost teeth during life and 54.4% showed hypoplastic defects of the tooth enamel. The teeth of children were also affected with 33.9% presenting cavities of at least one tooth, 12.1% with calculus and 10.2% with enamel hypoplasia.
I'm pleased to discover that calculus means both (1) tortuous and impenetrable method of calculation that some people seem able to do by occult powers of guess-work that they call "by inspection" and (2) tartar.
Right, back to turning the pages of Calvin's The Sinfulness of Outward Conformity to Roman Rites / On Shunning the Unlawful Rites of the Ungodly, and preserving the purity of the Christian Religion. A Letter by John Calvin to his dear and very excellent friend N. S. (1537)
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4 comments:
I'm having all 4 out under general anaesthetic after Xmas.
I only had 3. And my dentist decided they were going to be more trouble than they were worth, so I had them all out under general anaesthetic when I was 18. I've never missed them.
Well I hope I shan't. Just in case, though, I decided to wait until after we've finished our preaching series on Ecclesiastes.
I'm tempted to remove mine now with a spoon, regardless of sermon series.
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