The Role Of Dentistry In The Elizabethan Era

Diseases, Medical Treatment and Dentistry
THESIS STATEMENT: Renaissance medical treatment and dentistry relied on faith and folk healing more than actual medical training and knowledge.
Although the Renaissance is seen as the advent of the modern world, it would be centuries before medical treatment would catch up and become anything like it is today. In Elizabethan times, medical treatment and dentistry was dominated by the church and the belief that illness was a punishment by God. For these reasons, Renaissance medical treatment and dentistry relied more on faith and folk healing than on actual medical training and knowledge. In the Elizabethan era medical treatments were influenced in different ways. In Elizabethan times

Her symptoms included high fever, vomiting, and excessive bleeding. (Mabillard) Malaria, which was spread by mosquitoes killed many people during the time of the
Elizabethan era. The symptoms of having malaria include fevers, unbearable chills, vomiting, enlarged liver, low blood pressure, seizures, and coma. (Mabillard) Typhoid is another disease that was occurring during Elizabethan times. Typhoid was a

disease that had to do with lacking of bathing, which caused body lice, and filthy conditioning. Just a simple cut or sore, typhoid can enter them and go into the victim’s bloodstream. Which then later on causes high fever, delirium, and gangrenous sores would develop. (Mabillard) The treatments in the Elizabethan times were used in various ways. Some people wore a little piece of fur against the body which was suppose to draw away bugs from the rest of the body. (Quennell) Some stain remedies for the teeth included rubbing a mixture of vinegar and honey on to the stained tooth. (Quennell) Instead of toothbrushes people used coral to clean their teeth.

(Quennell) “…her teeth are very yellow and unequal, compared with what they were formerly, so they say, and on the left side less than on the right. Many of them are missing so that one cannot understand her easily when she speaks quickly.” (Collins) The Bubonic Plague was treated by lancing the buboes and applying a warm poultice of butter, onion and garlic. Various other remedies that were tried including tobacco, arsenic, lily root and dried toad. (Alchin) Stomach pains and sickness were treated with wormwood, mint, and balm. (Alchin)
Many of the treatments were not effective at the times causing bad outcomes. With the use of the coral instead of toothbrushes this caused rotting of the teeth and loss of tooth enamel. (Collins) For the stain remedies, mixing the vinegar and honey, this also caused loss of tooth enamel and rotting of the teeth. (Collins) Leeches were used to “suck the bad blood” out of the people who were ill. Which caused deaths to the people.