Many people nowadays have to wear false teeth when they are middle-aged.
Since the beginning of this century, tooth decay has greatly increased. The amount of sugar in our food has also increased. Doctor and dentists now know that sugar is the chief cause of tooth decay. Eskimos’ teeth, for example, started to decay when they began to eat sweeter food.
Long ago doctors did not like to treat people’s teeth. Barbers and blacksmiths looked after people’s teeth and pulled them out when they decayed. Some people thought toothache was a punishment from the gods.