The dental drill predates the wheel -- but was it safe?

March 3, 2016 2:54 AM

Despite our rapidly advanced dental technology, the idea of dental drilling still scares many of us today. Now imagine your teeth being drilled by Neolithic tools and our ancestors suddenly appear a great deal braver than us. They must have known the true fear of a trip to the dentist.

For BBC Earth, Colin Barras investigates the evidence for the existence of dentistry in prehistoric times.
posted by MartinWisse (20 comments total)

Actually I think a flint microlith might be less scary than a whining high speed drill. Must've been agonizing, though.
posted by Segundus at 3:28 AM on March 3, 2016

They don't interview Dustin Hoffman?
posted by indubitable at 3:47 AM on March 3, 2016 [3 favorites]

I seem to recall a lot of evidence for ancient trepanation. I wonder if it goes back as far?
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:00 AM on March 3, 2016

"Just pull it out for me, willya, Sergeant?"
posted by kozad at 4:39 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is why people are still afraid of the dentist -- after millennia of terror it's programmed into our genes!

(j/k?)
posted by aramaic at 5:59 AM on March 3, 2016 [2 favorites]

I don't really mind the drill itself but that... smell. What is that smell? Burning teeth?
posted by bondcliff at 6:07 AM on March 3, 2016 [3 favorites]

Segundus, I am sure it was painful (unless they used some kind of basic painkiller - booze?), but TFA does say it took about a minute when researchers mimicked the procedure. I would take a minute of agony over an aching tooth, any day!
posted by Atrahasis at 6:23 AM on March 3, 2016

Actually I think a flint microlith might be less scary than a whining high speed drill.

This!
I'm one of those who is utterly terrified of the dentist. And, yes, that evil whine of the drill is truly horrifying. Combined with the feel of them bearing down and grinding on your molar, the experience is simply agonizing, despite copious amounts of novocaine and nitrous.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:06 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

Should I be comforted that suddenly I am a member of the world's oldest profession?
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:10 AM on March 3, 2016 [16 favorites]

Probably wasn't that much worse than the foot-operated drills of 100 years ago
posted by thelonius at 7:29 AM on March 3, 2016

And if you're not into drilling in people's mouths, maybe there's a career for you in trepanning.
posted by sneebler at 7:43 AM on March 3, 2016

What is that smell? Burning teeth?

I had a dermatology treatment that burned the top layer of my skin recently, the smell was like roast chicken. I think like smelling your own farts, when you're cooked you smell quite appetising to yourself.
posted by colie at 7:47 AM on March 3, 2016 [2 favorites]

I wonder how Elliot the Neanderthal Feels about this. I'd love to hear his opinions.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:54 AM on March 3, 2016

I thought the 6500 year old beeswax fillings were pretty neat.

Beeswax would actually have made a reasonably good filling material. That's because it is soft and easy to work when warmed but becomes solid at human body temperature. It also has the added benefit of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

I guess beeswax must only work for deeper cavities and it's probably incompatible with flossing and brushing?
posted by aniola at 8:20 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

This does not surprise me. The only time I've had intrusive thoughts is over bad tooth pain. It's some variation of crushing/removing or otherwise destroying the tooth. The idea and visuals that come to mind are completely out of my control, but they just keep coming. I've talked to others that have experienced the same thing. In the throes of a toothache, in prehistoric society, I can only imagine the horrible attempts to elevate that pain before they came up with the drill.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:58 AM on March 3, 2016

My POV is probably not fair, but it's always seemed like the pace of technology advance in dentistry has been a bit Prius-doing-60-in-the-HOV-lane. As a kid, I had to lean over to spit into a little swirling bowl of water. Now there's a vacuum wand that does this for you. But there's still the drill, even that scary little low-RPM knobby drill that would look perfect mounted on an HO-scale mining machine.

In Star Trek, McCoy had an Apple Newton-like thing that diagnosed and probably cured most illnesses. But next door to the sickbay (not shown), there might have been some guy with a drill, telling you how all this pain is your fault.
posted by kurumi at 10:00 AM on March 3, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm one of those who is utterly terrified of the dentist. And, yes, that evil whine of the drill is truly horrifying

Ditto. I just had some work done this morning (nothing major, just a broken filling) and will openly admit that I was a nervous wreck walking in. I have no idea exactly why, the drill + burning smell is annoying but tolerable and other non-dental medical procedures don't really faze me at all. Maybe the loss of control and personal space? At any rate glad I'm not the only one.
posted by photo guy at 5:18 PM on March 3, 2016

Segundus, I am sure it was painful (unless they used some kind of basic painkiller - booze?), but TFA does say it took about a minute when researchers mimicked the procedure. I would take a minute of agony over an aching tooth, any day!

I've also known a few people who would refuse novacain during minor dental procedures, including drilling. Some people just have high pain tolerances, and even for those of us who don't, compared with a major toothache a short procedure would seem like a good bargain.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:18 PM on March 3, 2016

I fell asleep during a root canal once. I think I had had a local anaesthetic, certainly nothing more.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:38 PM on March 3, 2016

My grandmother was born in the late 1890s in a very rural area (North Wales, in the UK). I remember hearing her tell how she had toothache, and had to walk 5 or 6 miles to the nearest town to visit the dentist. The tooth was yanked, and the only anaesthetic was a slug of whisky, after which she had to walk home. Age about 10. She was a tough lady.

I, on the other hand, am a complete wimp about going to the dentist, and I am *not* looking forward to having to go and find out what is hurting under this here crown...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 6:57 PM on March 3, 2016