Tooth Be Told Trivia Quiz

Answer: A tooth worm

French born Pierre Fauchard lived from circa 1678 until 1761. On joining the navy at the age of fifteen, he studied surgical methods for some years under a surgeon-major there. During this time he also studied scurvy, and dental problems in particular. On leaving the navy, he set up practice at the University in Angers, where he became known as a leading figure in dental surgery. He moved to Paris some time between 1716-18, where he spent many months researching his findings thoroughly, before compiling them into his great two volume work "Le Chirurgien Dentiste" ("The Dental Surgeon") in 1723.

Fauchard's groundbreaking discoveries included the causes of tooth decay, advice on limiting sugar from diet as a result, findings related to tooth growth, the creation of teeth fillings such as amalgams or gold, and the practice of having teeth cleaned professionally by dentists periodically. He also created braces to correct teeth malformations, designed correct dental positioning for both dentist and patient, came up with the idea of the chair light, discovered and perfected various methods of oral surgery, instigated tooth transplantation, and even pioneered the use of several different dental prostheses. What a truly amazing man! Thank him sincerely in your mind next time you have a dentist looming over you with an instrument of mass destruction in his hands.

Answer: Rabbits

One would think that interfering with the normal dental functioning of rabbits would definitely have a detrimental effect on the state of their health, but the peculiar thing is that Price then applied his findings to humans. The results, he claimed, were that root canals negatively impinged on human complexions, brought about intestinal disorders, anaemia, and other forms of ill health.

This was known as focal infection theory, and it was quite the rage for almost half a century until it fell out of favour in the early 1950s. Price recommended tooth extraction instead. Oh, those poor bunnies!

Answer: George Washington

A common misconception is that President Washington's dentures were made from wood, but this turns out to be incorrect. Instead, Dr Greenwood made the great President's chompers from the tusks of a hippopotamus. For some reason this strikes me as slightly comical, but, moving along, another interesting fact about Dr Greenwood is that he was the son of a dentist himself, one Isaac Greenwood. Isaac was born in Boston in 1702, and holds the distinction of being the first American born dentist.

It would be nice to record a distinguished career for Isaac, but alas, this is not the case.

He was basically dismissed from several of his jobs for drunkenness, and, sadly so, finally drank himself to death in 1745. However, he does have one distinction that is recorded against his name.

He also wrote and had published the first American book on mathematics. Isaac's son John also had a good head for mathematics it seems. In 2013, his letter to George Washington detailing his list of dental work and the associated charges was still on display at the Northwestern University at Illinois.

Answer: Margaret Mitchell

Though Margaret Mitchel (1900-1949) was born many years after Doc Holliday, the two families were long interconnected by earlier marriages. Her famous work was the great novel, "Gone With the Wind", which was based around the tumultuous times of the American Civil War. The other three authors mentioned above were English.

Doc Holliday was born in Georgia in 1851, and died from tuberculosis in Colorado in 1887, at the very young age of thirty-six. He becames a fully qualified dental practioner at the age of twenty-one, but only really worked at that trade for a short while. Once he contracted tuberculosis, people refused to go to him for treatment for fear of catching the illness. He subsequently turned to gambling to earn his living, and proved very adept at that line of business. This eventually led him into the seamier side of life where he encountered various unsavoury characters. Though Holliday didn't kill nearly the number of people that popular culture places to his credit, he did indeed polish off more than enough. His aim was said to be deadly, a handy skill to have both as a dentist and a gunslinger. He eventually became great friends with the lawman Wyatt Earp, and was by his side during the famous shootout at the Ok Corral in 1881 in Tombstone Territory.

Only Wyatt Earp emerged from that gunfight unscathed. Holliday was bruised from the impact of a bullet hitting his gun holster, but otherwise unharmed. The rest of the members of the opposing sides either fled the scene or were killed or wounded during the shootout. The whole event only lasted thirty seconds, but more than thirty shots were fired during that time. The long lead-up to it and the aftermath makes fascinating reading. Before his death, he was once asked by a newspaper reporter if his conscience ever troubled him over the people he had killed. Holliday's response was a resounding no and "I coughed that up years ago, with my lungs".

Answer: Attorney

George Field (1877-1925) was related to the wary dentist through his mother's side of the family. Henry Blankman was born in Amsterdam in 1813, but moved to the States in 1849. He quickly found his way down to San Francisco where he set up his lucrative joint practices of dentistry and law. Always handy to be a lawyer in case a dissatisfied dental customer sues one.

He married Magdalena del Valle, the niece of a famous Mexican army leader. George graduated from acting on the boards of the San Francisco theatres to the new art of silent movies, where he made a total of 207 films between 1912-1924. One of these included the 1913 film "In the Twilight" which was based on a well known poem by Marc Edmund Jones. George's career was cut short by illness in 1924 and he died the following year from the effects of tuberculosis.

Answer: He was born into slavery

Born into slavery, this amazing man, the Reverend Henry Beard Delany, rose to become the first Black person to be elected to the position of a Bishop in the Episcopal Church in America. He was also Vice-Principal of a leading college in North Carolina.

His wife, Nanny Logan Delany, was a teacher as well. Annie Elizabeth Delany, who was referred to as Bessie by all who knew her, was one of ten children of these remarkable parents. In 1918, she enrolled at Colombia University, the only Black woman in a class of 170 students to do so, and graduated with a dental degree in 1923.

She was the second Black woman to practice dentistry in the state of New York. Bessie, who could be a bit of a fire-brand, took part in and organised many protests and marches for civil rights during her lifetime.

At the ripe old age of 101, she and her older sister Sadie, aged 103, published a best selling book called "Having Our Say". This work, which detailed a century of their joint lifetimes, was on the top selling list of books for over two years, and was made into a successful Broadway play and television movie.

A quote from English poet Richard Lovelace (1618-1657) springs to mind here for this remarkable family. "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage".

Answer: Foot driven dental drill

"Whirrrrr!" went the monstrous thing as it entered one's mouth - and then the drilling began, a clunking, grinding sound that didn't appear to be too bad at first - until suddenly - it hit a nerve. That's when most dentists had to pry their patients off the ceiling. Greene Black also came up with the most efficient mix of amalgams for fillings, and the best method of filling teeth to hold back the development of future decay for as long as possible.

The saying "extension for prevention" is forever associated with his name in this regard.

This basically involved the dentist putting a few more grooves in the tooth being filled than were already there, as these apparently were a great preventative in the fight against dental caries. Greene Black also discovered that the cause of the little stains and brown spots on some teeth enamel was the result of too much fluoride during the development stages of teeth growth.

This is known as dental fluorosis. A large statue honouring this dentist's work can be seen today in a major park in Chicago.

It is not true that people of a certain age group from all over the world travel there to pelt it with cream buns.

Answer: Double propeller

Froelich invented this huge device in 1932. One would hope that drilling teeth was not the inspiration behind its inception. However, his invention made a vast difference to life on the ocean wave and for that he will aways be honoured. The device converts the rotating motion of the blades into a powerful thrusting force. Froelich was not only a dentist and an inventor of some note, he was also a soldier in the Polish army, and dabbled with improving brewing technology as well. One would also hope that he didn't sample too many of the latter's products before assuming the dentist's position.

Answer: Paint his face as a clown

It's hard to imagine anything more terrifying that a leering clown's face peering down into one's mouth just before the drill is introduced. Fortunately, however, this dental clown, born in 1946, was of a more genial kind. Ricardo used the stage name of Cepillin in his career, because he branched out from quite possibly terrifying children to death in his surgery, to television performances, then his own TV show, making several movies, travelling with a circus, and into the music industry as well, where he recorded several albums of children's songs. Cepillin, the name he chose for his entertainment career, means little toothbrush.

This jolly dentist is known as the most famous clown in Mexico.

Answer: Steve Martin

This is quite one of the funniest films ever made. The story revolves around plants from outer space that feed on human blood and that, unless stopped, will multiply out of all control and take over the world. It stars Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and Steve Martin. The side story of the sadistic, laughing gas sniffing dentist, played by Martin, is absolutely hilarious.