Dental Trivia: The Founding Fathers

You may have heard the story about how George Washington had wooden teeth, but the tale is not entirely true. While the base of his dentures were made from wood, which was commonly used at the time, the teeth themselves were actual human teeth; likely originating from soldiers who had fallen in battle.

While Washington's teeth are likely the most famous, he wasn't the only U.S. president with an interesting dental history. Rumor has it that Abraham Lincoln was so frightened of dentists that he decided to attempt a tooth extraction on his own. In the process, he removed a part of his jawbone, teaching him the lesson that some things are best left to the professionals.

Other presidents with oral health problems include John Adams and Woodrow Wilson. The former neglected his teeth and wound up losing them, resulting in him speaking with a pronounced lisp, while Wilson's ghastly teeth shocked people when they saw his inaugural photo.

We hope you enjoyed some of these facts about dentistry and our past presidents.

We hope you found some of these dental facts about our past presidents enjoyable, and learned a little bit about the importance of taking care of your teeth. For more interesting information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Or, to learn a bit about modern dentistry, visit our website for information on the types of services we offer. As always, Dr. Sazima will be happy to help you at our Westlake, OH office.