Dandelion

 In Welsh a tooth is called a 'dant'.  In French, the word 'dandelion' means the tooth of the lion, so we have a descriptive word tripping off the tongue plus cross cultural pollination.

 A word I am very fond of is 'toothsome', suggesting as it does something tasty, acceptable to the teeth.
Unfortunately, I had to have a corker of a molar, complete with abscess, removed recently and 'toothsome' assumed another meaning.  All is well now and fortunately, I do not have to suffer the discomforts of false teeth.

 Admittedly, false teeth and dentistry have vastly improved over the last fifty years or so and now tooth implants are available, which are imperceptible from one's own teeth.

 During the 1950's, when I grew up, it was the custom for the less well off to have their teeth taken out as a right-of-passage. Ghoulish in the extreme to look forward to having bare gums as a twenty first birthday present.
Cosmetically, the side effects of this were that the cheeks sunk, giving a pinched look and the chin and nose almost joined with some people.

Practically, meals were difficult. Many people could not eat with their teeth in; chewing was difficult and when the plastic mould covered the hard palate, food could not be tasted.

During the 1940's a common pain killer for toothache was a clove jammed into the painful tooth. How effective it was at relieving pain is questionable but it was a home-spun remedy.

Archaeologists have discovered a body in Mexico believed to be four thousand five hundred years old. The corpse appears to be fitted with a set of false teeth.  It is often thought that more primitive people ate less sugar so therefore had less tooth decay, but teeth can wear away and break due to gum disease.

Seven hundred years BC, the Etruscan civilisation in Northern Italy produced sophisticated false teeth,  made from ivory and bone, mounted onto gold bridges.

 By 1538 the Japanese were continuing the search for acceptable false teeth but it was 1774 before porcelain was used in the manufacture of dentures.

The C18th saw an increase in the consumption of sugar by the middle classes to wide spread tooth decay.
Teeth from soldiers slayed on the battle field during the American Civil War teeth were sold in Europe to satisfy the demand for false teeth.

George Washington, the American President is popularly believed to have had a wooden set of false teeth but this is highly unlikely -elephant tusks, mother of pearl  and ivory were most probably used.

I have an image of an old man eating an apple when I was a child. (What joy to bite into an apple and smell its greenness, feel the crispness of the fruit on your tongue).

He had his own teeth and a strong white moustache.  As he ate a fine cloud of apple, shredded by his moustache, landed on his lap. (Fascinating to watch).

This reminds me of the Justices in Henry 1V Part 2, sitting in a Gloucestershire garden, enjoying a pippin. Evidently, they retained their own teeth.

I used to believe that the first sign of old age comes when you have to cut an apple into fine slices before eating. I still think I'm right.