When I was intrusted with the reproduction of all the ancient prosthetic pieces existing in the Italian museums, I met with special difficulty in the reproduction of the above-mentioned piece; and this because I could not succeed in procuring an ox tooth that was not worn away by the effects of mastication. The idea then occurred to me of sectioning the upper jaw of a calf at about the age of the second dentition, and taking out the teeth, which were already strong and well formed, but not yet deteriorated by mastication. I fancy my Etruscan colleague must have done the same three thousand years ago, when he carried out the prosthesis in question, for the large tooth employed by him does not show any signs of being worn by mastication.

This large tooth is solidly fixed by means of two pivots to the gold band that encircles it. Another pivot served to fix the second bicuspid, also artificial. This tooth, as already stated, has now disappeared, but the pivot that fixed it to its ring is still in its place. In carrying out this prosthesis the dentist has contrived the series of rings that support the teeth in such a manner that they remained above the gum, and thus the harmful effects of contact and of the pressure of an extraneous body was avoided. At the same time, this arrangement, by distancing the rings from the dental neck that narrows off conically, added to the firmness of the prosthesis.

Fig. 18

Etruscan appliance for supporting two inserted human teeth, one of which is now wanting. (Civic Museum of Corneto.)

Another dental appliance (Fig. [18]) which is in the custody of the Civic Museum of Corneto, was also found in a very old Etruscan tomb. It is formed by two bands of rolled gold; one of these is labial, the other lingual, and they are soldered together at their extremities, forming by the help of four partitions, also of gold, five square spaces. Three of these served for the reception of the natural teeth supporting the prosthesis; the other two maintained, by means of pivots, two inserted human teeth; one of these is lost; the other is still in its place, solidly fixed by its pivot. These inserted human teeth, by the religious laws we have before mentioned, could not have been taken from corpses; probably they belonged to the person himself, and having fallen out through alveolitis, had been reapplied in the manner described above.

Fig. 19

Etruscan appliance supporting one inserted tooth (upper middle incisor on the right) which is now disappeared. (Museum of the Conte Bruschi at Corneto.)

Two Etruscan dental appliances are to be found in the Museum of the Conte Bruschi at Corneto: one is similar to those already described, and the other, instead, is of a special kind. The first (Fig. [19]) is formed by a series of four rings, embracing the upper canine on the right and the three neighboring incisors. It was destined to support a single inserted tooth, the middle incisor on the right; this has disappeared, while the pivot by which it was fixed to the ring is still there, as well as the three natural teeth that afforded support to the appliance.