DKL
03-20-2012, 05:00 PM
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A Dental Oddity
I was amused to discover this week an interesting old anecdote dating back to the year 1855. It was then that No. 102 Duke Street was home to Messrs. Gabriel & Co, a firm of city centre dentists and they had come to develop a rather fanciful piece of dental apparatus. Enclosed within a small glass case sat a model of a female head, quite lifelike and in proportion and look. It’s mouth was equally realistic and inside sat several slots for missing teeth. Naturally, tooth decay has been a problem for generations and the Victorian era was no different. However, with the help of learned professionals like Gabriel & Co. our Liverpool forefathers would suffer no more. At the back of the head lay a series of clockwork mechanics and when put into motion, out popped an array of false teeth lowering down to fill the dummy’s unsightly cavities. This little act also sent the eyes to gesture in an almost natural manner before the teeth retracted out of sight back up into the artificial jaw. Self-conscious customers with similar ailments could now see exactly how they would appear after corrective measures had been taken and gain some sense of their future smile all thanks to the uncanny help of the mechanical head. This medical novelty was later put on show in Parker Street and became something of a must-see for all in the neighbourhood.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/19629737878)
A Dental Oddity
I was amused to discover this week an interesting old anecdote dating back to the year 1855. It was then that No. 102 Duke Street was home to Messrs. Gabriel & Co, a firm of city centre dentists and they had come to develop a rather fanciful piece of dental apparatus. Enclosed within a small glass case sat a model of a female head, quite lifelike and in proportion and look. It’s mouth was equally realistic and inside sat several slots for missing teeth. Naturally, tooth decay has been a problem for generations and the Victorian era was no different. However, with the help of learned professionals like Gabriel & Co. our Liverpool forefathers would suffer no more. At the back of the head lay a series of clockwork mechanics and when put into motion, out popped an array of false teeth lowering down to fill the dummy’s unsightly cavities. This little act also sent the eyes to gesture in an almost natural manner before the teeth retracted out of sight back up into the artificial jaw. Self-conscious customers with similar ailments could now see exactly how they would appear after corrective measures had been taken and gain some sense of their future smile all thanks to the uncanny help of the mechanical head. This medical novelty was later put on show in Parker Street and became something of a must-see for all in the neighbourhood.
More... (http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/post/19629737878)