Etruscan gold dental appliances

Abstract

Dental appliances and retention bands, the forerunners of modern dental bridges (pontics), were invented by the Etruscans over 2,500 years ago. The earliest known example, from the ancient site of Satricum in Latium vetus, dates to ca. 650 BCE. Most of the known examples derive from Etruscan archaeological contexts in Italy. Some retention bands and complex bridges appear to be Roman adaptations of Etruscan technology. Etruscan forms went out of use as their culture was dominated and then absorbed by the Romans. A significant recent discovery is that the Etruscan appliances were worn only by females, suggesting that cosmetics and vanity was the principal '‘dental’’ concern of these people. Also newly recognized is the specificity of the Etruscan pontics within the southern Etruscan region. The limited distribution of dental appliances provides a warning regarding attempts to view women’s roles as similar across the widely divergent cultures that were all part of the Classical world. In turn, these specific data make clear the wide variations in gender roles present throughout the ancient world.