The hard way to get a tooth pulled!

[NH Civil War Gal]

Another letter by W. Henry Peter of Co. D, 122nd Illinois came my way for transcription this morning which I added to his other letters. In this letter, datelined from Porter's Creek, TN, in late October 1863, Henry informs us that he had a traveling dentist "put 4 plugs of tin foil for $3.50." In researching that statement, I discovered that tin foil was often used as a cheap filling at that time. Often a soldier's only other alternative was to have their teeth pulled which one soldier described in his diary went down like this:

"All being quiet in our front I received permission to go back to the hospital to get an ugly tooth extracted that had kept me dancing all the night before. Our surgeon, Doctor [Robert] Everett, who had been hard at work all night at the amputation table, made but short work and little ado about one tooth. He laid me on the ground, strad dled me, and with a formidable pair of nippers pulled and yanked me around until either the tooth had to come out, or my head off. I was glad when the head conquered. I then made up my mind never to go to a surgeon for a tooth-pulling matinee the day after a fight." -- Lt. Ziba Graham, 16th Michigan.

To read Henry's letters, go to: Spared and Shared on FaceBook and Follow - Highly Recommend!

 

[BCS1973]

That makes me chuckle, not for his pain but his writing. In the 60's, my father had a military dentist pull a problem tooth. Only problem was, they first pulled the wrong one and then pulled the correct one which was next to it. He's been unable to chew on one side of his mouth for decades!

 

[Fairfield]

Certainly gives one an incentive to floss!

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

My recollection is accidentally biting on a piece of the tin foil that surrounded my favorite "Turkish Taffy" treat when I had a cavity would be horribly painful, so using that as a filling must have required some additional "work." I imagine teeth were drilled in those days, but don't know for sure.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I might be the only person who finds this fascinating, but this is going to be my reading material tonight, compliments of the United States Army -

Dental Care in the Union Army

https://medcoeckapwstorprd01.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/pfw-images/borden/dental/DCchapter02.pdf

Dentistry in the Confederacy

https://medcoeckapwstorprd01.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/pfw-images/borden/dental/DCchapter03.pdf

 

[Pollaco]

There's an easy way?