Since the dawn of Humanity, dental problems have existed and so every culture, even those primitive to us, has tried to find techniques to fix them.
A severe toothache may lead you to look for immediate and drastic solutions.
First dental treatments go back to 7000 years before our time and are located at the Indus Valley, in present day Pakistan, Afghanistan and north India. At that time, there were already people who dedicated to cure dental problems with primitive bow drills. Furthermore, there is evidence on the first “assistants”, whose tasks consisted of holding the patients’ hands and feet while treated.
Probably it was not pleasant, so much better current dentists though they make a little bit of noise!
Later on, antique Sumerians tried to explain dental caries as the result of tooth worms drilling. There was similar explanation in Far East cultures, Egypt, Greece or Rome and it extended until the beginning of the 14th century.
Methods to treat tooth worms were varied: perforations, unguent application, songs, spells, dental extraction…