If you and your kids lived in Ancient Greece's dark ages around 1000 BC, this is what life would be like: war, chariot races, helmets decorated with boar tusks, slavery, mud houses with holes for windows, arranged marriages at age fifteen, and a diet of bread, cheese, and fish (or figs, rabbits and peacock eggs if you were wealthy!) If you got ill, or if anything about your child needed to be fixed, there were no doctors around to help you. Instead, you would have to sacrifice your best livestock or freshest fruits or vegetables to the gods and spend the night in his or her temple. This was long before sophisticated doctors, surgeons, and orthodontists!
Ancient Orthodontic Tools
Although there were not any trained orthodontists 1000 BC, that did not stop brave people from trying to correct their teeth deformities. Instead of the smooth, petite, perfectly shaped metal braces that orthodontists have today, the Greeks stuffed their mouths with metal catgut strips. To try to picture what this looked like, imagine a surgeon’s sutures that are made of bronze or iron, and that they are as thick as bass guitar strings. To protect the person’s tongue and gums from the harsh iron, the catgut strips were lined with animal parts, specifically goat or sheep intestines! If your child ever complains about having to wear braces, be sure to let him know that it could be worse! He could be walking around school with sheep in his mouth! Adults and kids alike back then would have been astounded by modern inventions like Invisalign aligners!
Modern Medicine
Luckily for you the staff at Beecroft Orthodontics of Invisalign King George, Invisalign Teen Stafford, and the office in Fredericksburg, Virginia, have no intention of putting any part of an animal's digestive tract in your son or daughter's mouth! With Invisalign aligners, moms get the straightened teeth they want and kids do not have to hide their smile while it is getting fixed.
Beecroft Orthodontics, 10472 Georgetown Dr. Fredericksburg, Virginia
Phone: 540-898-2200
Orthodontic Fact #3: "In 1000 BC, the ancient Greeks fashioned a catgut or metal strips with goat or sheep intestines to correct teeth deformities. Be thankful that you are living in the 20th century."