Dental writings in a medical self-help book of 1650
Ring, M.E.; Bär Teller, I.
Journal of the History of Dentistry 52(3): 125-129
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 1089-6287 PMID: 15666502 Document Number: 580874
Only one copy exists of the very first medical self-help book written in the Yiddish language. The author, a well respected. barber-surgeon in Prague, states that he wrote the book for those too poor to consult a physician. Physicians were not as knowledgable or experienced as the barber-surgeons who were the principal providers of medical care for the masses. The book follows the format of discussing illnesses from head to toe, and includes numerous prescriptions for toothache, loose teeth, foul mouth and sore tongue. We derive an interesting picture of what dental treatment was like in the mid-seventeenth century.