Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Canadian Dental Collection
Category
Dental
Teeth
Dentures
Classification
Dental
Teeth
Dentures
Accession Number
010020466
Description
Lower denture made entirely of porecelain with pink gums and a complete set of cream coloured porcelain teeth minus the third molars; gold coloured metal posterior attachments are present which would have held springs connected to upper dentures
Lower denture made entirely of porecelain with pink gums and a complete set of cream coloured porcelain teeth minus the third molars; gold coloured metal posterior attachments are present which would have held springs connected to upper dentures
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Transfer from the Dental Canada Fund; previously housed in the Dentistry Canada Museum (Ottawa)
Dates
1780
1800
circa 1780-1800
Date Remarks
Date based on donor's remarks
Material
porcelain: cream, pink
metal: yellow
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-B
Temporary Location
On display “Toothless: A History of Dentures” at the Museum of Healthcare; 27 Oct 2015
Dimension Notes
Length 4.7 cm x Width 6.5 cm x Depth 1.5 cm
Condition Remarks
Porcelain teeth are discoloured; teeth, particularly the molars have dirt on them; shows signs of use
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Internet
Reference Comments
"Medical Discoveries - False Teeth" website
Research Facts
Dr Ralph and Mrs Olga Crawford donated their extensive Canadian dental collection to the DCF to create the museum in 1997; further donations were received while Dr Crawford was Curator Emeritus at the Dental Canada Museum until its closure in 2008; porcelain teeth first appeared in 1774 in France when dentist Dubois de Chemat began to make them; de Chemant patented his improved version in 1789 and took them with him when he emigrated to England; Claudius Ash of London, England invented an improved porcelain tooth around 1837; the French dentist A.A. Planteau first brought porcelain dentures to the United States in 1817, and Charles Peale began making porcelain teeth in Philadelphia in 1822; a down side to porcelain teeth was their bright whiteness