Arguably the most famous myth about the first president is hardly true. Washington indeed had false teeth. In fact, by the time of his first inauguration, he had only one real tooth left, but his dentures were not made of wood. At various times throughout his life, he wore dentures made of human teeth, ivory, and lead. In one set of teeth, his dentist, Dr. John Greenwood, used a cow’s tooth, one of Washington’s teeth, hippopotamus ivory, metal and springs. Because of their poor fit, his various dentures distorted the shape of his mouth, and, needless to say, were extremely uncomfortable.
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