The northwestern Los Angeles County dental clinic sees patients of all ages from the Santa Clarita Valley area and southern Ventura County.

Modern-day people are fortunate to live in a time when such basic preventive measures as regular tooth cleanings, fluoridated toothpaste and tap water, and standard dental procedures such as dental fillings could have prevented just about all of the issues that plagued George Washington.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (PRWEB)
April 14, 2022

A February 3 article in Health.Mil, recounts the dental tribulations of the first President of the United States, George Washington. While it’s commonly known that the legendary general and statesman suffered from severe dental issues, contrary to popular legend President Washington never wore wooden dentures. Instead, his 18th-century dentists used problematic natural prosthetics that were made using natural teeth that had either belonged to Washington or that had come from animals and people. They were poor replacements that often exacerbated his struggles with horrific dental problems. Santa Clarita Dental Group says that modern-day people are fortunate to live in a time when such basic preventive measures as regular tooth cleanings, fluoridated toothpaste and tap water, and standard dental procedures such as dental fillings could have prevented just about all of the issues that plagued George Washington — a meticulous man who practiced flawless dental hygiene by Revolutionary War-era standards.

Of course, dental patients still sometimes suffer from painful toothaches and often need tooth extractions and oral surgery. Santa Clarita Medical Group nevertheless notes that ordinary people with oral issues now benefit from a vastly higher level of care than either George Washington or his nemesis, King George III of England, could have imagined. It’s definitely far more comfortable considering that anesthesia had not even been developed in the 1700s and most doctors could only resort to opiates and other primitive and potentially dangerous forms of anesthesia.

The dental office adds that, as far as oral prosthetics are concerned, modern-day synthetic dentures are vastly more hygienic and durable than what was available in the 1700s, even to the very wealthy and powerful. Today, President Washington would likely have opted for the modern-day gold standard replacement, dental implants, which act exactly the same as natural teeth and can limit the kind of gum issues that often lead to tooth loss. Moreover, while President Washington had to live with replacement teeth so discolored that people may have mistaken them for wood, dental implants are all but impossible for most people to distinguish from natural teeth. Of course, if George Washington had had access to modern-day preventive care, most of the painful infections that caused him to lose all of his teeth by age 57 would likely have never happened in the first place.

Santa Clarita Dental Care says that, unfortunately, not everyone takes full advantage of oral health advances but it’s never too late to start. Anyone who has not visited their dentist recently needs to schedule an appointment for an exam and tooth cleaning to prevent the kinds of painful issues that plagued so many people in the past. Imagine how grateful the most famous and widely admired man of the 18th century would have been to enjoy the kind of oral health care now available to all of us, says Santa Clarita Valley Dental Care.

Readers can learn more about Santa Clarita Valley Dental Care by visiting their website at https://scvdentalcare.com/ or by calling (661) 766-5566.

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