Dentists and teeth in the 50s

In the 50s, teeth were not the same. Fluoride had not been added to the water supply nor to toothpastes; diet during the war and in the following years had been less than excellent for obvious reasons; on top of that, the average person (hate that all embracing term, but it will have to serve) had far less disposable income; we can add to that less knowledge about the importance of diet during pregnancy and of avoiding sugary liquids on babies’ gums and teeth. Toothpastes were probably less good than now. Result? Fewer full mouths of perfect teeth smiling in freshly polished splendour and carefully aligned almost designer tooth braces eradicating the irregularity that we all thought was normal.

Dentists were different too – perhaps most significant was the fact that their equipment was less good.  I remember going to the dentist when I was about 8 or 9 in his surgery which was in the front room of his house. No anaesthetic before fillings so that every turn and vibration of the drill could be felt for a full fun feeling of the drill; to add to the fun, the drill was not a high speed drill, it was slow, belt driven and powered by a foot pedal – nice. Of course, as previously mentioned, teeth were less good so one had the joy of a painful dentist visit more often. Although I can claim no direct personal knowledge, I believe that the use of full dentures on plates (thus removable and soak- able overnight) was much more widespread and I have heard that, in order to avoid endless painful visits, quite a few people would opt to have all their teeth extracted and replaced with a plate.  I think they had that sort of thing done under gas sedation. The implements that the dentists used, including drills, were washed and then sterilised in a sterilising box which used to steam when the lid was opened - no one use throw away tools.

Electric toothbrushes, new enamels, cosmetic dentistry? Forget that in the 50s and the 60s!