Reflections | How ancient Chinese dental practices were often similar to those used today

I welcomed the new year with a new crown – a dental one, that is. A routine check-up in late 2025 revealed fine cracks in one of my molars, which called for prompt intervention.

First came the filing and reshaping of the damaged tooth, accomplished with a tool that produces my least favourite sound, but amplified and reverberating quite literally inside my head.

A digital scan was then taken and sent to a laboratory, where the permanent crown would be fabricated. In the interim, a temporary crown was glued on to protect what had become a rude stump of a tooth.

At the follow-up visit, the dentist cemented the final crown in place, restoring both function and appearance. I was given strict instructions to abandon the habit that had probably caused the damage in the first place: gnawing on hard nuts and ice cubes. Unless, of course, I fancied more frequent visits to the dentist and the renewed trauma of his tiny power tool shaving bits off my teeth.

Ancient China’s approach to oral health was not so much the dreadful whine of a dentist’s drill but salt water, twigs and an assortment of curious implements and mixtures. Long before fluoridated toothpaste and electric toothbrushes, both elites and commoners addressed dental problems with considerable ingenuity.