The Etruscans and the History of Dentistry

Marshall Joseph Becker is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at West Chester University, USA, and is a Distinguished Member of the American Anthropological Association. Jean MacIntosh Turfa is a Consulting Scholar in the Mediterranean Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, USA, and a Foreign Member of the Istituto di Studi Etruschi, Italy.

List of Illustrations



Preface



Acknowledgements



Background: the main ancient cultures associated with dental appliances listed in alphabetic order



Introduction



Chapter 1. Dentistry in medical history: classical roots



Chapter 2. Evidence from the ancient Near East: correcting misconceptions



Chapter 3. The dental prosthesis: a lost Etruscan invention



Chapter 4. Dental appliances and dentistry after the Etruscans, to the present day



Chapter 5. Catalogue of Etruscan and Roman-era dental appliances



Chapter 6. Concluding remarks



Appendices:



Appendix I – Uncertain examples of Etruscan dental appliances



Appendix II – Modern Copies of Etruscan dental appliances



Appendix III – Spurious examples of dental implants or appliances



Appendix IV – Amulets and votives resembling or incorporating teeth



Appendix V – Pliny on cures for oral pathologies



Appendix VI – Evidence for dental extractions in ancient Rome: a summary of the analysis of teeth excavated at the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman forum



Appendix VII – Report on analysis of gold bands in Liverpool appliances (nos. 13 and 14)



Bibliography



Index