Oral anatomy in the sixteenth century: Juan Valverde de Amusco

Abstract

In 1554 Juan Valverde de Amusco, a Spanish anatomist, wrote the History of the composition of the human body, a complete anatomical treatise that took as its model the Vesalius school of thought (La fábrica of Vesalius). Considered one of the most complete anatomical treatises of the Renaissance and one of the most widely read books of the sixteenth century, it was translated into four languages in its day. The first chapter, devoted to bones, provides a meticulously detailed analysis of the bones of the facial structures and of the teeth, their supporting structures, vascularisation and innervation. Juan Valverde de Amusco even describes techniques for reducing mandibular luxations. Even with the imprecise observations typical of the time the treatise must be considered an exceptional document. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.