An antique set of false teeth with pale porcelain teeth on a dark reddish-brown rubber base, resting on a linen cloth in a museum-style display
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
tabdent

A SHORT HISTORY OF FALSE TEETH

Teeth you could
take out.

IVORY TO RUBBER three centuries of smiles

  • Carved by craftspeople
  • Fitted with real teeth
  • Moulded in rubber
  • How the materials changed

False teeth are older than dentistry as we know it.

For centuries they were carved by craftspeople from bone and ivory, sometimes fitted with real human teeth. Then a rubber patent changed who could own a set. This is an independent history guide built from museum and archive sources.

Updated

Pick a material

THE SHORT ANSWER

Bone, ivory, porcelain,
then rubber.

Each new material changed how a set fitted,
how it looked and who could afford one.

IVORY

A carved luxury

Early dentures were made of wood with teeth carved from bone or hippopotamus ivory. They were made by craftspeople, fitted poorly and were only within reach of the wealthy.

Compare the materials

PORCELAIN

Teeth that did not rot

French dentists turned to porcelain in the 1770s. By 1820, porcelain teeth were being mounted on 18-carat gold plates with gold springs and swivels.

See the dates

VULCANITE

Rubber for everyone

Vulcanite, a hardened rubber, could be moulded to each mouth. With porcelain teeth set into it, dentures became widely available in the late 1800s.

Follow the timeline

General information only, not medical advice. For advice about your own health, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified health professional.

A QUICK MATERIALS CHECK

What was the set
made from?

Pick a material to see when it was used and who could get it. The bar shows how widely available dentures of that kind were, according to the sources.

Materials check

Choose a material
Carved bone or ivoryLuxury item

Wooden or ivory bases with teeth carved from bone or hippopotamus ivory. Made by craftspeople, poorly fitting, and only for the upper classes.

Real human teethTop of the range

The highest-quality sets used an ivory base with real human teeth, known as Waterloo teeth, taken from the dead or bought from poor people.

Porcelain on vulcaniteWidely available

Moulded hardened rubber with porcelain teeth and gums pinned in place. Dentures became widely accessible in the late 1800s once patent fees stopped being enforced.

Dentures todayAvailable on the NHS

The NHS says an NHS dentist may offer dentures if they are needed to treat a dental problem. They are a Band 3 treatment, and some people get NHS treatment free.

Sources: Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, 'The Disturbing History of Dentures' (2012); NHS, Dentures (false teeth), reviewed March 2025.

History only. For dentures today, the NHS dentures page and a dentist are the places to go; this page is not dental advice.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

An old idea,
a hard problem.

One date for how far back false teeth go,
one for how badly even the best sets once fitted.

≈ 700 BC

Etruscan false teeth date back to

The Etruscans of ancient northern Italy made false teeth from human or animal teeth around 700 BC. They did not last long but stayed the basic approach until the 1700s.

THE FIRST SETS · DENTAL PRODUCTS REPORT

1 tooth

Real teeth left when Washington took office in 1789

His dentures were hippopotamus ivory with human teeth, gold wire springs and brass screws. None of them were wooden, despite the legend, and he complained they were uneasy in the mouth.

A PRESIDENT'S MOUTH · MOUNT VERNON

The only complete set of George Washington's dentures that still survives is held at Mount Vernon. It contains human teeth, probably horse and cow teeth, and lead, tin, copper and silver alloys.

FOUR STEPS ON THE TIMELINE

From the workshop
to the dental lab.

A row of loose porcelain false teeth laid out on a velvet-lined wooden tray beside a small brass dental tool
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

The big changes came from materials: something that would not decay, and something that could be moulded to an individual mouth.

  1. Around 700 BC: Etruscan sets

    False teeth made from human or animal teeth. They wore out quickly but stayed the standard for centuries.

  2. 1700s: ivory and human teeth

    Walrus, elephant and hippopotamus ivory bases, the best fitted with real human teeth. Expensive, and made by craftspeople.

  3. 1770s to 1820: porcelain

    French dentists tried one-piece porcelain sets. In 1820 Claudius Ash mounted porcelain teeth on gold plates.

  4. 1850s onwards: vulcanite, then acrylic

    Porcelain teeth set in moulded hardened rubber. In the 20th century acrylic resin and other plastics took over.

THE RUBBER PATENT

A patent that kept
prices high.

A small block of creamy carved ivory and an old bone-handled carving tool on a worn wooden workbench in soft window light
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Charles Goodyear perfected vulcanising rubber in 1839 and patented related products in 1851. The original patent expired in 1861, but a patent covering vulcanite dentures was taken out in 1864 and dentists were charged yearly fees and royalties on every set.

The collector, Josiah Bacon, was shot dead in San Francisco in 1879 by a dentist he had taken to court. Afterwards the company stopped enforcing the patent, prices fell and dentures reached ordinary people. English museum sets from 1880 to 1940 show the result: porcelain teeth on vulcanite plates.

Questions

Questions people ask

Were old false teeth really made of wood?

Some early dentures had wooden bases, with teeth carved from bone or hippopotamus ivory. But the famous story that George Washington wore wooden teeth is a legend: Mount Vernon says none of his false teeth were made of wood.

What were Waterloo teeth?

Real human teeth used in high-quality dentures, set into an ivory base. They were taken from the dead, including soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, or bought from poor people who sold their teeth for money.

Why did porcelain matter?

Ivory and natural teeth decay and stain. From the 1770s French dentists used porcelain, which did not rot, although early porcelain sets were brittle and shrank when fired.

What is vulcanite?

A hard rubber made by vulcanising, a process Charles Goodyear perfected in 1839. It could be moulded to fit an individual mouth, then hardened. It was a dark reddish brown, so porcelain was used for the teeth and visible gums.

What are dentures made of now?

In the 20th century acrylic resin and other plastics replaced vulcanite. The NHS says today's dentures are made from a mould or scan of the mouth, and that a dentist can explain the options; this page is history, not dental advice.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (Maryland): The Disturbing History of Dentures
  2. George Washington's Mount Vernon: False Teeth (Digital Encyclopedia)
  3. Dental Products Report: The fascinating history of dentures
  4. Science Museum Group Collection: Full lower denture, vulcanite with porcelain teeth, English, 1890-1930
  5. Science Museum Group Collection: Full denture set, vulcanite plates, porcelain teeth, English, c. 1930-40
  6. NHS: Dentures (false teeth)

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