Modern dentists don’t have to worry about the possibility of exploding teeth, except in their nightmares. But somehow W.H. Atkinson knew of three cases in his 40-year dental career. The three people involved may not have been regular patients of his before the explosions; they all seemed to have put off dental help when they needed it most. The first case was in 1817, when a man experienced a toothache so bad that he was driven to distraction trying to relieve it. After a day of worsening pain, the tooth exploded with an alarmingly loud sound, and he experienced immediate relief. In 1830, a woman had a similar experience. When Atkinson experienced a third case in another woman in 1855, he wrote up all three cases in an article for the American dentistry journal The Dental Cosmos. While Atkinson has some harsh words in his paper for dentists who expect their patients to endure such pain, he doesn’t offer any report of follow-up care for any of the three patients. One has to wonder if the roots of the shattered teeth were extracted.
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In any case, Atkinson’s cases were not the only reports of exploding teeth in the 19th century. It doesn’t seem to have happened since 1920, except for one case involving baby teeth that had already fallen out. We don’t know why teeth used to explode, but there are several theories. It may have something to do with the difference between dental care in the 19th century and more modern times. Read more about the possible causes of exploding teeth at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: Wellcome Images)
Source: neatorama