Applespider said:Alarmingly, within living memory this was the route of choice. People were 'given' as gifts for their birthdays a trip to the dentist to remove all their teeth and get false ones. It was seen as a good thing since avoided future costly trips and all the potential problems with toothache.![]()
Before the creation of the welfare state and NHS dentistry it wasn't unheard of for a father to have all of his daughter's teeth removed prior to her wedding as a gift to his new son-in-law. This was to make her less of a financial burden (and not to facilitate 'gumming' as some might suggest).