George Washington’s Teeth?

Through the years we all heard the story about our first President’s teeth being made out of wood. For as long as I remember George Washington’s teeth were made of of wood. But you know something, although I lived downed the street from Mount Vernon, for more than a few years, I never went there. His dentures were on display there…. and guess what? They aren’t wooden. So what they are not wooden.. whats the big deal? Well the big deal is that some of the teeth in his dentures came from the mouth’s of his slaves. According to some historians, the first President did not just have the teeth snatched out of the mouths of his slaves but paid them for the ivories. Accordingly, history notes the slaves made about 122 shillings for 9 teeth. A shilling is worth 7 cents in today’s money. It’s not clear if Washington intended to use these teeth as implants or within a new set of dentures or if he employed the teeth at all. While this transaction might seem morbid to a modern audience, purchasing human teeth was a fairly common practice in the 18th century for affluent individuals. As to how and why the rumor of Washington’s wooden teeth took hold in the first place, no one knows for sure, but there are two main theories, both based on the assumption that his dentures must have looked like they were made of wood. One holds that they turned mottled and brown with age, the other that their “woodiness” was due to Washington’s habit of drinking fortified wine. Anyway, now we know and can put to rest the story of George’s wooden dentures. The teeth and cherry tree are just fables of American folklore.