That year, he started wearing full sets of dentures made from ivory and human teeth. "In a drawer in the Locker of the Desk which stands in my study you will find two small (fore) teeth; which I beg of you to wrap up carefully, and send inclosed [sic] in your next letter to me. William M. Etter, Ph.D.Irvine Valley College. According to the accounting record in Mount Vernon’s Ledger Book B, the teeth may have been pulled from Washington’s slaves. While it is a myth that Washington’s false teeth were made out of wood, his pain and embarrassment from his dental woes were all too real. These predated dentures made of aluminum, rubber, and porcelain, but they were never made of wood. Let’s begin with the claim that George Washington had a sexually transmitted disease, probably syphilis. Mount Vernon is owned and maintained in trust for the people of the United States by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a private, non-profit organization. Prior to Washington's service in the Revolutionary War, Dr. John Baker, the first dentist to fashion false teeth for Washington, fabricated a partial denture with ivory that was wired to Washington's remaining real teeth. It was not uncommon for a person living during Washington's time to have severe dental health issues. All Rights Reserved. It’s quite possible that some of his dentures, particularly after they had been stained, took on a wooden complexion, but wood was never used in the construction of any of his dental fittings. Washington likely used this compact toilet set complete with a tooth brush, tooth-powder box, and tongue scraper while traveling during his presidency and subsequent retirement. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. When Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in North America, saw this personal letter he was convinced that the other official military correspondence within that same intercepted packet must be genuine. These problems were likely due to factors common during Washington's era, including a poorly balanced diet and disease, as well as genetics. Throughout his life Washington employed numerous full and partial dentures that were constructed of materials including human, and probably cow and horse teeth, ivory (possibly elephant), lead-tin alloy, copper alloy (possibly brass), and silver alloy. They weren’t. Since Washington paid for the teeth it suggests that they were either for his own use or for someone in his family. George Washington suffered from poor dental health throughout his adulthood; beginning in his twenties he experienced regular toothaches, decay, and tooth loss. Washington was very self-aware of the impact that ill-fitting dentures had on his appearance. In a 1797 letter to Dr. John Greenwood, Washington complained how his ill fitting dentures were “already too wide, and too projecting for the parts they rest upon; which causes both upper, and under lip to bulge out, as if swelled.” In a separate letter the following year, Washington noted that another set of dentures had “the effect of forcing the lip out just under the nose.”. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. 3.George Washington Parke Custis, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington. The case of George Washington's stolen false teeth has been halfway solved. Wooden dentures did exist—they just weren’t worn in Washington’s time. Although he regularly used dental powders and a toothbrush similar to our own, his tooth loss persisted. Dr Greenwood enclosed a bill for $15, a high figure in those days. It is fairly well circulated that he had such a set of dentures and, over time, it’s become a part of American folklore. Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. But his dentures were, in fact, constructed from “chunks of ivory from hippopotamuses, walruses, and … W.W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig, The Papers of George Washington. It would have been kind of dumb to make teeth out of wood when better materials were available.” Literally no one at the time was using dentures made of wood. Washington hoped that these original teeth could be used within new dentures that were being fitted for his use. All Rights Reserved. Payments to dentists and purchases of toothbrushes, teeth scrapers, denture files, toothache medication, and cleaning solutions are also regularly present in Washington’s communications throughout his life. Expert William Maloney has laid bare the truth of Washington… Once it was determined that Le Mayeur was sincere in his desire to serve the American cause, General Washington eagerly sought out his services. This final survivor was finally pulled by Dr. John Greenwood in 1796 and Washington allowed his dentist to retain this famous tooth as a memento. The only complete set of Washington's dentures that still survives is preserved by the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens and is made of animal and human teeth, lead, and ivory. "Mrs[.] 4. Although George Washington’s initial interest in hemp was to determine if it could be a viable cash crop, he proceeded to cultivate it just to meet the needs of his own plantation. All of Washington's dentures caused him pain and produced facial disfigurement, described by George Washington Parke Custis as "a marked change...in the appearance...more especially in the projection of the under lip." Whitelock to make for her a set of teeth – to make them something bigger and thicker in the front and a small matter longer[.] Next to the Cherry Tree legend, the story that George Washington wore wooden dentures arguably remains the most widespread and enduring myth about Washington's personal life. They were actually made from a variety of materials, including human teeth. He began wearing partial dentures by 1781. The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only. So did he really chop down the cherry tree? Deep within one of Washington’s account books is an entry which details Washington’s purchase of nine teeth from “Negroes” for 122 shillings. "2 When Washington finally lost this tooth as well, he gave it to Greenwood who saved this cherished item in a special case. Greenwood even left a hole in the dentures to accommodate Washington's single tooth as he believed a dentist should "never extract a tooth...[when] there is a possibility of saving it. Whether the teeth provided by the Mount Vernon enslaved persons were simply being sold to dentist Dr. Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur or whether they were intended for George Washington, is unknown at this time. It is important to note that while Washington paid these enslaved people for their teeth it does not mean they had a real option to refuse his request. Paintings of Washington from later in his life all seem to show changes in the shape of his jaw and mouth. Admission to dental school is competitive and rigorous. President George Washington’s dentures are an invaluable part of history There is no record of what the teeth cost Washington, but upon returning them after one repair job. The dentures are “absolutely invaluable as an antiquity,” according to Dr Aisenberg. 2. "John Greenwood to George Washington, 28 December 1789," ed. What Clinton did not know was that Washington and Rochambeau had just planned out their movement south to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown. George Gilbert Stuart's circa 1798 portrait of George Washington. Next to the cherry tree legend, George Washington’s supposed… Bibliography:Byrd, Ronald. Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. One of the most popular historical exhibits at Mount Vernon, originally the estate of the first President of the United States and now a monument to his life and legacy, is a set of the great mans dentures. Martha Washington evidently had a magnificent set of teeth, but she too needed the use of a partial denture by the time of George Washington’s second presidential term. 3. In 1781, a pre-eminent dentist by the name of Dr. Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur escaped from British occupied New York City and passed through the nearby American lines. Contrary to later legend, none of Washington's false teeth were made of wood. Part of a denture made by Greenwood is owned by the New York Academy of Medicine as is the decorative case holding Washington’s last tooth. Aware of his failing dental health, George Washington retained several of his pulled teeth within a locked desk drawer at Mount Vernon. The French born Le Mayeur, disgusted by derogatory comments made by a British officer against the Franco-American alliance, decided he had had enough and packed up his dental tools and headed off to find the Americans. George Washington experienced problems with his teeth throughout his adult life. Unger, Harlow Giles, The Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life. Separate fact from fiction and learn more about the real George Washington. Contrary to popular myth, George Washington did not have wooden teeth. A souvenir replica of George Washington’s dentures has been pulled from the Mount Vernon site after protests that the teeth were pulled from slaves’ mouths to fill his own. All Rights Reserved. George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the historic plantation occupied by the country’s first president, recently stopped selling its popular souvenir replica magnet of Washington’s dentures because of renewed attention to the human teeth in the original. Washington, who always treated his dental troubles as a state secret, was mortified to learn that a mail packet that included a personal letter requesting dental cleaning tools had been intercepted by the British. Despite his legendary physical strength and iron constitution, George Washington’s failing teeth were a source of regular suffering throughout his entire life. The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only. Kevin L. Cope, William S. Pederson and Frank Williams. Mount Vernon is owned and maintained in trust for the people of the United States by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a private, non-profit organization. "4, Not surprisingly, Washington found his ivory and metal contraptions difficult to use while eating or speaking. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858. Yes, George Washington grew hemp. Mount Vernon explores numerous myths about George Washington and his famous teeth.Â, Not quite three months before his death, George Washington commented in a letter to his farm manager that health was "amongst (if not the most) precious gift of Heaven," and noted that without it "we are but little capable of business, or enjoyment.". The two eventually grew quite close, and Le Mayeur was a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon in the years just after the close of the Revolutionary War. 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