Ancient Egyptian Dental Surgery

Egypt contains one of the earliest medical programs in the world. Since 3400 BC, Egypt has had extremely specialized and diligent physicians, many of whom recorded their studies in papyri. These same papyri are used today to study Egyptian medical practices, and they contain information regarding the diseases, treatment, and prevention. Ancient Egyptian medicine was the most advanced of their time, for they were capable of performing surgeries, recorded a vast amount of medical knowledge on papyri, took steps to prevent disease, and treated ailments with a variety of plants and medicines. Knowledge about Egyptian medicine comes from a variety of sources, including the papyri, the writings of ancient historians, and, of course, the mummies,

The field of dentistry has history dating back to 7000 BC and has continually changed and improved overtime through the influence of many intelligent people. The ancient cavemen of Pakistan received credit for the first documented drilling of teeth. Studies show that Pakistanian cavemen used asphalt and other creative treatments to fill cavities (“Dentistry”). This act of improving oral health laid the basis for further development and innovations in the field. Following the Pakistanian cavemen, the ancient Egyptians contributed to dentistry by creating the formula for one of the oldest recorded toothpastes. This mixture consisted of rock salt, mint, dried iris flower, and pepper. Scientists believe that this formula for toothpaste may have worked better than toothpastes developed during the 18th century (Monson). The French, the next

can come to the conclusion that all physicians were well looked after and were a valuable asset to all pharaoh. In wartime and on journeys anywhere within Egypt, the sick are all treated free of charge, because doctors are paid by

Illness is in no way a new thing, if you had happened to to sick at the time of ancient egyptians there probably was a treatment for it. However in ancient egypt, the medicine that we think of now was not the preferred way in treating diseases. The egyptians had a leg on on the other societies of the ancient world. This mostly relates to their embalming process where they religiously practiced removing and preserving human remains. The ancient egyptians believed that in order for a soul to travel to the afterlife the body must be preserved.Through the embalming process, egyptians had gained great knowledge of anatomy, dissection and preservation. The entire mummification process took multiple skilled prist and roughly 70 days to complete.

They are the first in the world to crete a national government, basic forms of arithmetic, and a 365-day calendar. They have many inventions such as hieroglyphics and papyrus. Hieroglyphics is a form of picture writing and papyrus is a paperlike writing material that is made from the stems of papyrus plants. They developed one of the first religions to highlight life after death. They

The study of medicine stretches as far back as can be remembered and has been an integral area of study in every society and civilization throughout history. Medicine is constantly improving and being innovated, making the treatment of various diseases and ailments easier and easier. However, in the early millennia, the rate at which medicine was being improved and innovated was not as rapid as it is today. The physicians and doctors of the time were not as skilled as the medical professionals in the present era. Lacking the technology and knowledge people have today, the people in earlier civilizations were faced with many obstacles. Among those obstacles were not only technological obstacles, but social obstacles as well. In some cases,

If someone had breast cancer, the physician would try to cut out the cancerous lumps from the woman's body using a drill. Although that method is a dangerous and lethal way to treat a patient, this shows how complex illness such as cancer was treated by a society who had limited understanding and access to obtaining information about the inner ongoing of the human body. However, there were some methods the Ancient Egyptians used that was useful. For example, if someone in Ancient Egypt had food poisoning, they would use charcoal as medicine because they learned that charcoal has great absorbing properties and could be used to absorb the poison. Even though, some of the healing methods they used were dangerous, Ancient Egyptian doctors continuously learned from the methods they used and

By reading various papyri we are able to dive into the Egyptian practice of medicine. These papyri explore various illnesses and their cures. Papyrus texts reveal that doctors had detailed knowledge of the various body systems. The knowledge of medicine, anatomy and the functioning of the human body has been attributed to the embalming procedures practiced by the

The only organ that was left in the disease was the heart as the Egyptians believed that they would need it in the afterlife. The body was then covered in natron and dried for 40 days. Sometimes even the toenails and fingernails were tied and fastened on with string to ensure that they wouldn’t get lost in the salt or fall off in the trip to the afterlife. The body was then thoroughly emptied and cleaned out, washing away all of the natron salt. The disease was then covered with oils. The body was then wrapped in many layers of linen bandages. They were also wrapped with their arms in a cross to show that they were royal. This wrapping process is vital for the rebirthing in the afterlife and preservation of the body. In more modern times the

Dentistry has a long and complex history, with the earliest evidence of it being performed being dated back to 7000 B.C. from the Indus River Valley Civilization. Later, an ancient Sumerian text mentioned “tooth worms” around 5000 B.C., and from 2900 - 2700 B.C,Egyptians began drilling teeth to drain abscesses. Etruscan and Greek physicians further progressed dentistry by pioneering dental prosthetics and writing texts that contained information about dentistry. The Roman Empire later conquered the Etruscans and absorbed some of their culture, including dentistry. In fact, the Roman medical writer Celsus wrote on many topics pertaining to dentistry. In Asia, although the Chinese did use silver amalgam fillings as early as 200 B.C., a proclamation from the Qu’ran that prohibited body mutilation prevented the advancement of dental surgery for many years. The first book to focus solely on dentistry, Little Medicinal Book for All Kinds of Diseases and Infirmities of the Teeth by Artzney Buchlein was published in Germany in 1530. Known European dental achievements were mostly French and English in the 16th and 17th century, with James Hunter, an English surgeon, pioneering the idea of teeth transplant. When the English began settling the United States, many of them brought along their dental practices. Notable American dentists during the colonial period include Isaac and John Greenwood and Paul Revere. In the 19th century, America was a hotbed for dentistry related

Modern Westerners are not aware of the achievements of eastern medicine because it is just not talked about. For whatever reason, “eastern medicine” generally references Chinese remedies and no one seems to look further than that. Such a monumental time of medical innovation should be more celebrated in the west. Without Arab medicine, we might all still be dying young from totally treatable

Their knowledge of the internal anatomy increased, and their preservation of the human body rose to an exceptional height. There are still preserved bodies that can be found in museums today! Also, hieroglyphic documents describing treatments and prescriptions have been preserved and translated with the help of the Rosetta stone. Evidence of surgery has also been recorded. One can make out all of the facial features of a mummy even after 3,000 years; that is how thorough and effective this process was. Through mummies, historians can study things like the health of the ancient Egyptians to provide more insight, while other civilizations did not have such a process to keep the dead preserved (since no other mummies from any of the coexisting civilizations have been found). Treatments and prescriptions show that the Egyptians had the ability to recognize and diagnose illnesses and injuries, as well as properly tend to them. The Egyptians also managed to attempt and perform surgery somewhat

Most of what the world knows today about medicine in Ancient Egypt comes from the papyri that have survived all these years; second is the study of the artistic representation of disease in the Nile Valley; third, and perhaps most obvious, is the study of human

However, in the medieval Islamic empire many surgeons were making careful and quantitative observations to treat diseases. For instance, Physician Avicenna wrote many medical doctrines and was the founder of many surgeries. He revolutionized ways of performing surgeries such as removal of kidney stones, intubation and the use of clinical trials for medicine (1). His book Cannon of Medicine was still in use in universities in the 17th century. This book gave a base off which Europeans could learn and pioneer their own medical practices.

The ancient Egyptians utilized many basic methods of science and technology over the course of their culture’s era. You can find examples of these marvels in practically any aspect of their workings. From architecture to agriculture, medicinal practices and time keeping, one thing is for sure, they set a tone for the progression of technology over the centuries. Without these basic beginnings, we would not have what we have today.