Through the Dental Records of Time

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DENTISTRY
National Museum of Dentistry. Open up and say “Ah!”, this isn’t going to hurt at all. While this museum is just a bite instead of a feast, where else can you find George Washington’s last tooth and dentures? Or memorable toothpaste commercials, antique dental tools and “cutting edge” displays showing cosmetic tooth fashions of different cultures (e.g., sharpened, blackened, gold-studded)? Just watch out for those chewing denture test machines....

On the campus of the University of Maryland, 31 S. Green Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 706-0600. For more information: http://www.dentalmuseum.umaryland.edu/

Despite popular myth, George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth. His four sets of dentures were made of hippopotamus bone, elephant ivory and eight human teeth from dead people, held together with gold palates and springs.

	Photo credit: http://www.frontiernet.net/~prodntic/George.htm

HISTORICAL DENTAL MUSEUM
Don’t visit this one right before a scheduled appointment. Lots of really scary looking dental equipment, including famous dentist Painless Parker’s extracting device.
Broad & Allegheny at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, Tel: 215-707-2816
From Baby Teeth to Braces (website for kids)

COLGATE'S KIDS' WORLD
A virtual dental wonderland
(Go to http://www.colgate.com/ and then choose Kids’ World)

Remember getting that unrelentingly cheery corporate-sponsored educational material in school? Well, now all that stuff is on websites. Hard to imagine genuine 1990s kids purposely accessing Colgate Kids’ World instead of Disney or Marilyn Manson websites, but if you force it down their throat, they might find some little amusement in the games and stuff like:

• For example, games like Toothman, which is basically Hangman...except that all the words have to do with oral health and each wrong answer brings the Plaque Monster closer to Toothman.

• Brushing chart. This is a 28-day chart you can print out to remind you to brush your teeth twice a day (adults can use also it to keep track of lunar or menstrual cycles). Wait a minute, twice a day? You kids have it easy — some of us codgers remember way back when expert advice was to brush four times a day. (We also had to milk the cows and walk five miles to school through snow, but don’t get us started.)

• Tooth Fairy®. Hard to imagine, but Colgate claims “Tooth Fairy” as a registered trademark. Hopefully, corporate sponsorship means the TF can leave a lot more money under the pillow. Your can fill out a form and get an e-mail from the Tooth Fairy® Itself.