In 18th Century, There Was A Dental Condition Where Your Tooth Actually Exploded

A visit to dentist is categorized as an annoyance and a pain. However, we rarely give them enough credit for making the experience much less painful than it has the potential to be.

Thomas Morris is an avid researcher and a writer of medical history peculiarities. He wrote a piece that entails dental explosions (ouch). Back in the 19^th century, a dentist by the name of W.H. Atkinson talked about a peculiar condition that subsequently caused an explosion of teeth in the mouth of patients.

In 1817, Atkinson made an account of the case of a reverend in Springfield, Pennsylvania, who suffered from quite a painful toothache.

One morning, the reverend heard a loud crack in his mouth that resembled a pistol shot and his tooth shattered into tiny pieces and the pain ceased.

Then in 1871, a young woman went through the same ordeal.

According to some, the sound that ensued from her mouth was so loud that she went deaf for a couple of days.

No one is certain about why this condition existed, however, according to one speculation it could that the severe tooth decay caused gas buildup at the root.

Upon getting filled with too much of the gas, the tooth explodes like a balloon.

Another theory suggests that making use of two different metals for fillings caused a reaction that ended up with the production of hydrogen.

Got any ideas as to why this might have happened? Don’t be shy and share them with us!