When you hear the name Paul Revere, you probably think of his "midnight ride" to warn of the movement of the British army toward Lexington, but he had more to his story. By trade, Revere worked as a silversmith, but he was also an amateur dentist!
Revere was a skilled craftsman and used his talents to fabricate dentures made of walrus ivory or animal teeth, which he wired into his patients's mouths. This talent later led him to become the first person to practice forensic dentistry in the United States -- although it wasn't intentional.
Revere was able to identify the body of his fallen friend, Joseph Warren, who was a well-known revolutionary that was killed during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Revere recognized the wiring that he had used on a false tooth for Warren's mouth and was thus able to identify his friend in the mass grave where the British had buried several fallen soldiers.
The field of forensic dentistry has certainly come a long way since that time, but it helps to show us just how unique our mouths are. Besides developmental differences including crowding, spacing, missing or extra teeth, the specific dental treatments that a patient exhibits helps their mouth to stand out from others -- especially if it's a Paul Revere crafted false tooth!
