People in ancient times believed that the stabbing
pain of a toothache was caused by a toothworm, which either had appeared
spontaneously or had bored its way into the tooth. If the pain was severe, it
meant that the worm was thrashing about, but if the aching stopped, then the
worm was resting. Cultures all over the world, many of whom had no contact with
each other, held stubbornly to this myth. The folklore of the toothworm persisted from ancient times
to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
As a result many of the rather comical folk cures were developed:
• Bee: Honey, a product of bees,
was used to coat an infected tooth in the Middle Ages. People smeared their
aching teeth with honey and waited all night with tweezers in hand, ready to
pluck out the toothworm. The bait rarely
worked.
• Donkey: In ancient Greece,
donkey’s milk was used as a mouthwash to strengthen the gums and teeth. It was obvious goats milk did not have the
same medicinal attributes.
• Frog: Besides spitting in a
frog’s mouth for toothache relief, these web-footed creatures were applied to a
person’s cheek or to the head on the side of the ailing tooth. The worst case scenario is you ended up with
a prince or princess.
• Onion: In the Middle Ages a
slice of onion was applied to the ear on the side of the aching tooth. Obviously, they had never heard the old adage
that ‘misery loves company’, because no friends wanted to hang around people
with smelly onion ears.
If you are having a persisting or intermittent ache
in your tooth for a prolonged period of time and none of these remedies are
working for you, you mostly likely need to see a dentist.
Portions
were Reprinted with permission from "Toothworms and Spider Juice: An
Illustrated History of Dentistry" – Loretta Frances Ichord, Millerbrook
Press.
Novy
Scheinfeld, DDS, PC
290 Carpenter Drive, 200A
Atlanta
(Sandy Springs), GA 30328
404-256-3620
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