An ancient toothpick and ear-picker of bronze, found in the north of France, at Bavai (the ancient Bagacum).
Caylus, in his valuable work Recueil d’antiquités égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques, romaines et gauloises (Paris, 1752 to 1767), gives the picture of a toothpick and ear-picker of bronze, two inches long, with the middle part wrought in spiral form, so as to increase the solidity of the article, and also to enable the hand to keep it easily firm in all positions. It was found in the north of France, at Bavai (the ancient Bagacum), and forms part of the collection of M. Mignon of Douai.[162]
Martial is one of the first Roman writers who speak clearly of artificial teeth. In Epigram LVI of Book XIV, the poet, by a bold personification, makes the dentifrice powder say to a toothless old woman, furnished with false teeth: “What have you got to do with me? Let a girl use me. I am not accustomed to clean bought teeth.”[163]
Elsewhere[164] Martial atrociously derides a courtesan, who, among her other physical defects, was also without an eye: “Without any shame thou usest purchased locks of hair and teeth. Whatever will you do for the eye, Laelia? These are not to be bought!”[165]
This epigram shows that, while dental prosthesis was already in use, ocular prosthesis did not as yet exist.
To a plagiarist, who passed off Martial’s poetry as his own, the latter says: “With our verses, O Fidentinus, dost thou think thyself and desire to be thought a poet. Even so, it seems to Ægle that she has all her teeth, because of her false teeth of bone and ivory.”[166]
There is, therefore, not the least doubt that in the days of Martial artificial teeth were in use; and that these, as may be seen from the epigram just now quoted, were made of ivory and bone; we do not know whether they were formed also of other substances. The question, however, arises: In those times did they manufacture movable artificial sets, or was the dental art then limited to fixing the artificial teeth unmovably to the neighboring firm teeth, by means of silk threads, gold wire, and the like? The answer to this question may be found in another epigram of Martial,[167] where the latter ridicules a wanton old woman, telling her, among other things still worse, that she at night lays down her teeth just as she does the silken robes.[168]
It is, therefore, beyond all doubt that, at that period, the manner of constructing movable artificial sets was known; and most probably not only partial pieces were made, but even full sets. In fact, from the verse quoted above we have justly the impression that the poet means a whole set rather than a few teeth.
From the words of Martial, it may also be concluded that these dentures could be put on and off with the greatest ease; or, as we may say, by a maneuver as simple as that of removing any articles of apparel; they must, therefore, have been extremely well constructed.