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Monday, Feb. 7, 2022

Does a recent social media post picture ancient Egyptian dental work?

Marlo Lee, Lead Stories

no

A picture circulating on social media, claiming to be "Ancient Egyptian dental work from 2000 BC," is actually a photo of dental work done at the turn of the 20th century. The ancient Egyptians did have a type of dentistry. However, the photo circulating online does not show an original example of it, but rather a re-creation.

Patrick Cutter, an assistant director at the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, told Lead Stories:

"The image in question is actually two non-credited images of an item we have at the museum. The item is a replica of an Egyptian-style gold bridge made by Italian dentist and dental historian Dr. Vincenzo Guerini in the 20th century. He made a number of replicas from ancient techniques around the world, using more contemporary skull pieces."

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