Have you ever had a tooth pulled? How about your wisdom teeth extracted? If you have, you know that the process is rather unpleasant, but there is always something to be grateful for. For example, you could have had a tooth pulled in the early 1900s, developed blood poisoning, and then died. Or your dentist could have been a bit too liberal with the cocaine. Heck, some dentists even had whisky on hand so you could booze it up before a good yank.
1. Lockjaw
In 1912, 11-year-old Barnard Fitzpatrick of Philadelphia had a tooth pulled. He developed lockjaw (probably tetanus) and died shortly thereafter.
Unfortunately, lockjaw can still happen after a tooth or the wisdom teeth are pulled. [1]
2. He Bought Someone Else’s Tooth
It was 1886 and James Truett desperately needed to get a tooth pulled, but he did not want want to go through life with a missing tooth. Then he got the bright idea of buying someone else’s tooth to replace his bad tooth.
James paid another man $15 for his tooth and together they went to the dentist. The dentist yanked out James’ bad tooth and then yanked out the identical tooth in the other man’s mouth.
Without cleaning the other tooth, he plunked it in James’ mouth and a few days later, James claimed that the bought tooth was well and good.
Unfortunately, there was no followup on what happened to James or his transplanted tooth a few weeks later, but one can assume that it probably became infected. [2]
3. Blood Poisoning – Sepsis
Blood poisoning (sepsis) after a tooth extraction was rather common over 100 years ago, and many deaths were reported in the newspapers. Sadly, infections can still happen today which is why it is important to research the dentist you use and follow after-care instructions. [3]
4. Pulled Wrong Tooth
In the early 1900s, there were a large number of dentists being sued for yanking out the wrong tooth. For example, in 1915 Pearl Silverman sued her dentist for $2,000 after he yanked out the wrong tooth. [4]
5. Cocaine
In 1915, Al Elliott of Chicago became severely ill after his dentist gave him cocaine during a routine tooth extraction. [5]
6. Broken Jaw
Because most dentists in the past were not medically trained and because teeth, particularly molars, can be difficult to yank, broken jaws were rather common.
In 1913, it was claimed that Arthur Walls of Illinois might die after his jaw was broken during a tooth extraction.
Jaw fractures can still happen today. [6]
