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The National Museum of Dentistry is renowned for its collection of dental treasures from the legendary to the whimsical, from George Washington’s not-so-wooden teeth to cartoon character toothbrushes featuring Fred Flintstone and Mickey Mouse. The 40,000-object collection of dental instruments, furniture, and artwork is one of the largest and most significant in the world. A substantial portion of the core collection traces its roots to the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the world’s first college of dentistry founded in 1840, and the Museum continues to add to the collection.

Significant objects in the collection include:

• George Washington’s ivory lower denture
• Queen Victoria’s personal oral hygiene instruments
• The first earned dental diploma, dated 1841
• Toothbrushes ranging from the 1800s to the present
• Dentifrice containers, including one dating to the court of French King Louis XVI
• Dental furniture, including dental chairs dating to the early 1800s and the oldest known American dental cabinet (c. 1820)
• An 15th-century stained-glass image of St. Apollonia, patron saint of dentistry
• Extraction instruments dating from the 17th century, including the largest holding of dental extraction keys in the United States
• The world’s largest collection of dental advertising poster art

FROM THE VAULT

Toothbrushes Through the Ages
From left to right: The siwak stick or “chew stick”—a twig with frayed ends—has been used since Babylonian times, particularly among Muslim and African cultures. Taub’s patent toothbrush had a convex, semicircular design made to conform to the tongue side of the teeth. This early 20th-century design was made out of celluloid. A rubber-tipped combination gum stimulator and toothbrush with an aluminum handle, pre-1945. The Strockway rotary toothbrush was designed with long and short bristle tufts to enable them to go over and in between the teeth as the toothbrush was rolled along the teeth. Circa 1950s. 
Dr. Mayland’s toothbrush with rubber points instead of bristles, circa 1920s. The Rotor toothbrush was designed to clean the teeth vertically, circa 1930s.

Eugene Cernan’s Toothbrush from the Apollo X Mission
What makes this toothbrush so special? It was in OUTER SPACE! These bristles went on the Apollo X dress rehearsal to the moon in 1969 with astronaut Eugene Cernan, famously “the last man on the moon.” (He was also on the final Apollo mission in 1972.)

Coates Die Plate, c. 1910
This iron die plate was used to mold the biting surface of crowns. Crowns at this time were made from metal strips. The biting surface was one piece of metal and the sides were another piece of metal. These two pieces were soldered together. In order for the crown to have a realistic biting surface, the dentist would select the type and size of tooth for which he needed a crown and hammer a strip of gold over it to mold its shape.

Masticator, circa 1900. French. Donated by Mrs. Lazzaro.
Masticators are a Victorian Era invention designed to essentially pre-chew food. The six blades divided food into small pieces that were easier for people without teeth or who had ill fitting dentures to chew and swallow food more easily. 

Evel Knievel battery powered toothbrush, circa 1975. Donated by Dr. Elaine M. Miginsky.
This Evel Knievel battery powered toothbrush circa 1975 was produced in the aftermath of the daredevil’s Snake River Canyon jump, September 8, 1974. The American Dental Association’s Council on Dental Materials and Devices endorsed the product with this quote from the packaging: “The Evel Knievel Power Toothbrush is professionally acceptable as an effective cleaning device for use as part of a program for good oral hygiene to supplement the regular professional care required for oral health.”

The elaborateness of this toothbrush represents the apex in “character toothbrushes.” The overall unit came in pieces and had to be assembled. The launch ramp served as the toothbrush holder. The electric motor was housed in the “rocket motorcycle” and the batteries were contained in the base.

Toothbrushes reflecting popular culture themes began appearing after World War II. Several factors came together during or shortly after the war to make more elaborate and intricate designs a possibility. America was emerging from the Great Depression, nylon had been invented during the war and was beginning to be used as toothbrush bristles, and the manipulation of plastics that were stable in a range of temperatures had been perfected.

Some of the early designs incorporated a colorful toothbrush with a holder modeled after a child’s toy, such as a plastic space rocket and a western-style six-shooter with the bristles at the end of the barrel with holder that looked like a holster.

Toothbrushes designed to incorporate popular culture themes served two purposes: the company manufacturing them was hoping to sell more of their brand of toothbrush, and by providing the child with a “toy” toothbrush, it was hoped they would spend more time brushing their teeth.

Saint Apollonia
Who do you call on when you have a toothache? St. Apollonia, the patron saint of dentistry. After refusing to renounce her Christian faith in 249 A.D., Apollonia endured extraction of her teeth by her Roman prosecutors, then threw herself into the flames, a defiant act of faith that thwarted her executioners. She is depicted holding a gold tooth with pincers and is represented in a several works of art in the museum, including this oil painting, a 15th-century stained glass window from a Welsh church, and a series of Andy Warhol prints.

The McCauley Library of the History of Dentistry
The library holdings encompass significant early dental education texts, dental histories, reference resources and early dental journals, including a complete set of Dental Cosmos, a complete first series of The American Journal of Dental Science, early editions of Pierre Fauchard’s two-volume work on dentistry written in 1728 and a first edition of John Hunter’s History of the Human Teeth.

The archives hold significant documents and photographs and is a major repository for the papers of eminent dentists and dental historians such as Dr. Gardner P.H. Foley and Dr. Audry B. Davis. One of the most important documents is the Proceedings of the American Society of Dental Surgeons, 1840-1855, hand-written meeting minutes tracing the origins of organized dentistry in America.

Access to the library and archives is available by appointment; call 410/706-8704.