Toothache In The Middle Ages
Because medieval people had toothache too
They had teeth that hurt, teeth that broke, teeth that became infected and teeth that eventually had to come out.
They also had some rather interesting ideas about why teeth hurt.
The tooth worm
One long-standing explanation for toothache was the tooth worm โ a tiny creature believed to burrow into the tooth and cause pain.
And if you believed a worm was causing your toothache, you needed a way to get rid of it.
Some remedies involved herbs, oils, poultices, prayers and charms. One particularly memorable treatment involved burning henbane seeds beneath the patient's mouth. The smoke produced tiny worm-shaped strands of ash, which could be interpreted as the worms leaving the tooth.
Whether that actually removed anything is another matter.
But the idea makes a little more sense when you remember that medieval medicine was working with a very different understanding of how the body worked.
And when the tooth wouldn't stop hurting?
Sometimes the answer was simply:
Take it out.
The image above gives us a glimpse of that process.
There was no modern dental surgery. There was no anaesthetic as we know it today. The tools and techniques were very different.
And yet the basic problem is instantly recognisable.
That tooth hurts. Get the bloody thing out.
So the next time your dentist asks if you've been flossing, spare a thought for whoever was sitting in that medieval chair.
Because it could be worse.
They could be reaching for the forceps.
Source
British Library, Royal MS 6 E VI, f. 503v, Omne Bonum, James le Palmer, c. 1360โ1375. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.