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Collecting dental items

Jackie McGlone writing in the 'Collecting' column of the "Weekend Living" section of "The Herald" on Saturday, 26th March 2005, refers to a number of dental collectors items.

‘Images of teeth-gnashing Scots clamouring for dental treatment shows that fears of surgery have receded. But the tortured instruments that made a BC (before chloroform) visit such a terrifying prospect continue to extract - from collectors wallets.

An early nineteenth-century silver dental pick in a gold and ivory case recently achieved £250 and a metal molar key, forerunner of dental forceps, can pull bids of £100 or more. Expect to pay £200 for folding dental chairs that brought relief to frontier Americans, and up to £15,000 for an eighteenth-century trepanning set. A hideous articulated steel jaw (£500) and a collection of Victorian glass eyes (£20,000) are not for the squeamish, but some items of medicalia are exciting a wider audience and propelling prices. Original nineteenth-century phrenology heads by L. N. Fowler are touching £500.’

 

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