Cut Your Teeth on This!
Why do these teachers from Yukon Central Elementary have vampire teeth? Although Halloween will be celebrated in a few days, these lovely ladies had donned these “pearly whites” for a lesson about George Washington. Everyone erroneously assumes that George Washington had wooden teeth—He did not. It was worse. He starting losing his teeth in his twenties and by the time he was President he had only one tooth in his mouth. “A French dentist named Jean Pierre Le Moyer (or Le Mayeur) immigrated to America in 1780 and treated patients between New York and Richmond over the next decade. Specializing in tooth transplants, he found that transplantable teeth were hard to come by and went so far as to advertise in the newspaper for ‘persons disposed to sell their front teeth, or any of them.’ The Frenchman first treated Washington in 1783. The following year, the General paid several unnamed “Negroes,” presumably Mount Vernon slaves, 122 shillings for nine teeth, slightly less than one third the going rate advertised in the papers, ‘on acct. of the French Dentis.’ Whether the teeth provided by the slaves were simply being sold to the dentist for any patient who needed them or were intended for Washington is unknown at this point, although the fact that the General paid for the teeth suggests that they were for his own use (*Mary V. Thompson).” He did have several different sets of dentures. The ones on display at Mount Vernon are made of animal teeth, some of Washington’s own incisors, and other people’s teeth. The material for the outer part of the dentures was lead with springs on both sides. This uncomfortable apparatus is why the President kept in his mouth. When Gilbert Stuart painted his famous portrait of Washington, he actually added stuffing to make his mouth fuller! By studying the painting, one will notice that the General’s mouth looks exactly like a person who has the Halloween “vampire” teeth in their mouth with their lips sealed. This is a great way to demonstrate to students and adults why Washington’s mouth and lips look “pursed” on the dollar bill. Now that is something to sink your teeth into!
*Taken from Mary V. Thompson’s article, They Appear to Live Comfortable Together in Slavery at the Home of George Washington edited by Philip J. Schwarz.
