Why did George Washington have wooden teeth?

He didn't have wooden teeth, he apparently had different sets of dentures made, some of ivory, which was sometimes called "elephant's teeth" in those days.

The attached links are to Mt. Vernon, the Washington estate in Virginia.

There are many stories surrounding George Washington and not all of them are true. Sometimes our heroes in history become larger than life and the stories about them become exaggerated. These stories are called legends. One of the legends of George Washington says that our first President wore wooden teeth. Like most legends, this story is not true.

George Washington had many illnesses during his life. He had smallpox, malaria and the flu among other things. Back in the 1700's, there were no antibiotics such as we have today. Treatments for illnesses in those days included blood-letting and remedies such as mercurous chloride, which is known to destroy the teeth.

Washington lost his first tooth when he was 22 years old. Despite the fact that he used tooth powder daily, over the next 35 years he would lose the rest of his teeth. Toothaches were a common problem for Washington, (continued.)

George Washington did not have wooden teeth. He did have dentures though that were made from ivory, porcelain and some of his own teeth. He lost his teeth not because he didn't brush, but because of the tooth powder he used. It was not only abrasive, but toxic and wore the enamel off and the teeth down as well. He was known as fine looking young man with a charming smile until he lost his teeth.

Those were the best form of dentures available at the time - soft enough to be worked with the gums/while minimizing irritation, and hard enough to chew food. Not ideal, but typical of the time.

He liked to chew on toothpicks and liked the taste of wood, so when he lost his teeth, he had wooden teeth made

Because Martha kinda liked the deep mahogany stain of the teeth as it matched the paneling in the den at Mount Vernon. George sure did what he could to please ol' Martha.

He probably had gum disease. And its good that they could make him dentures from something at least! Imagine being president with no teeth.

he chopped down the cherry tree and it fell on his teeth and he was too lazy to take out the wood so he just lived with the wood in his mouth, wat do you tink?

Because plastic hadn't been invented.......

probly not

:]