Posted 11 years ago
hotairfan
(388 items)
Shown is a rather gruesom type of instrument used for dentistry. If you had to have a tooth pulled in the old west, the practicioneer may have used an instrument like this called a tooth key. It hooked around the decaying or absessed tooth and with a twist of the instrument (and I might add, a lot of discomfort), out came the tooth. I am not sure of its true age. I would assume it dated back to the 19th century (I must ask my dentist on my dext check-up). This one is rather plain, being of all metal construction. I have seen other tooth keys that had ivory handles and replacable hooks to adapt to various tooth removable applications. It shows that Dentistry has improved over the years. ...hotairfan.