Ancient Maya installed gemstones in their teeth. It wasn't just fashion.
JUNE 20, 2022
The ancient Maya enjoyed filling their teeth with gemstones. A new study reveals how the procedure was done and how it didn't kill them.
Credit: Wikipedia Commons
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The Maya once installed gemstones in their teeth as a fashion statement that might also have had medicinal benefits. The dental procedure appears to have been surprisingly common, and its practitioners managed to do it without killing the patient. A recent study suggests elements of the cement used to hold the stone in place may have kept infection and cavities at bay.
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The ancient Maya civilization has long intrigued the modern world because of its impressive cities and temples, its invention of the concept of zero, and its sudden and mysterious collapse. But among the lesser-known aspects of Maya society was a tendency for citizens to decorate their teeth with gemstones directly inlaid into the enamel.
A study recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports found that this procedure may have been more common than previously thought, and that the Maya were surprisingly skilled at the dental procedure.
More than just bling
A thousand years before Pierre Fauchard began his work on replacing lost teeth with ivory dentures in France or the introduction of grillz into parts of popular culture, the Maya were both taking excellent care of their teeth through regular cleaning and filling their teeth into pointed shapes for what were long presumed to be ritual reasons. They were also placing semiprecious stones into their teeth as seen below:
The eight Maya teeth used in the study.
(Hernández-Bolio et al., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022)
While these samples can seem a little dull, a wide variety of gems have been found in teeth from burial sites, including jadeite, iron pyrites, hematite, turquoise, quartz, serpentine, and cinnabar. The visual effect would have been vibrant during the lifetime of the person who had the surgery done.
More:
https://bigthink.com/the-past/maya-dental-gemstone/