Short history of development of applied dental instruments

Abstract

Dentistry has been practiced for as far back as 7000BC. In the prehistoric era, division of the umbilical cord and other minor procedures were probably undertaken with human teeth and nails, and later with plant, animal and mineral substitutes, as witnessed by studies of primitive societies still surviving or recently extinct. More efficient metallic blades appeared in historic times and ultimately generated five specific shapes which are analysed in detail. Even before modern dental instruments were used, the tools used in dentistry were effective and reliable, some to mention are bow drills instead of modern dental drills, and a few more that often seem like torture devices, which lead us to the extraction or pulling of the tooth, which was very painful before, since there was no effective way of relieving the patient of the pain. The tools have been constantly evolving in historical times, according to the expediency and the aesthetic needs. We can follow the development of the instruments of dentistry from the beginnings till the 21th century.