George Washington’s Teeth

In his lifetime, George Washington was already an American hero. Honored and loved by his countrymen, it was only fitting that he was chosen as the first President of the United States.

Most people are aware that George Washington had false teeth, but contrary to myth, his teeth were made from ivory, not wood, and were difficult to use when eating or speaking. They stained easily and required much maintenance. His dentures, of which he had many, caused pain, bulging lips, facial disfigurement, and significant embarrassment¹.

As seen in the picture of his inaugural dentures, there is a hole for the lower left molar. That was the only tooth he had left and it acted as an anchor to keep his dentures from slipping². Sometime during his Presidency this lone tooth was pulled, leaving him in a more difficult situation, toothless and with new dentures that fit worse than ever.

It was unfortunate that George Washington lived at a time when dentistry was inadequate and incapable of preventing dental disease, gum disease, pain, tooth loss, or making effective dentures. At this time in history dental pain was severe. Today most of us immediately call the dentist when we have pain and get it taken care of quickly and effectively.

Our first President had to live with this type of pain his entire adult life. Such pain could, and probably did, stop others from functioning at the same high level at which he functioned. Part of his greatness is that he didn’t let the pain or embarrassment stop him from becoming a successful, useful servant and leader of the people. It would have been easy for him to complain about these challenges, and quit, but he didn’t.

Obviously there is more to George Washington’s success than living with the pain and embarrassment associated with his teeth. This is but one example of how he pressed forward despite whatever challenges he had to endure. One of our goals as parents should be to help our children press forward and never give up when life’s challenges get tough and seem to be more than they can bear. Who knows, maybe we have a budding George Washington living with us.

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