At Work With…

… Gerald Legg, Keeper of Natural Sciences

Fossil Human Teeth

We get all kinds of enquiries and this one was particularly unusual. A member of the public ‘phoned saying they had hundreds of teeth embedded in stone in their garden, forming part of the foundations of their patio which was being dug-up. ‘Bring some in and we’ll look at them for you’.

Chunk of old patio base with embedded 'teeth'

A strong carrier bag duly arrived with three large chunks of ‘rock’ in which were embedded what appeared to be human teeth – by the hundred. With a little imagination all kinds of ghoulish images could come to mind!

On close examination the teeth appeared to be very uniform and incomplete – they had no roots, but they did have a hole in them; very strange. Perhaps they were for making primitive necklaces or other jewellery; nothing so obvious. A little local history research revealed that one of the world’s largest manufacturers of artificial teeth implants had once had a factory in Brighton very close to where the enquirer lived: Dentsply.

On June 23, 1899 The Dentist’s Supply Company of New York was formally chartered by the state of New York. Secretary of State John T. McDonough signed the papers in Albany. Within a month, The Dentist’s Supply Company of New York was serving dental retail outlets and manufacturing its first product, artificial teeth.

Close up of some 'teeth'

Called 20th Century Teeth, in honour of the coming century, these platinum pin teeth were considered revolutionary. Made of porcelain, using techniques developed and perfected by George Whitely, 20th Century Teeth had platinum pins baked into the porcelain structure to hold them in place within the dental base. This was hailed as a major improvement in the design and manufacture of teeth and dentures.

In typical dentures of that day, teeth broke off from the dental base when the pressure of chewing and biting created internal stresses. After the anchors were baked into the teeth, pins were soldered to the anchors to hold the teeth in place. The strength of 20th Century Teeth earned The Dentist’s Supply Company a reputation for high quality goods. A century later, the company founded on the strength of one product is DENTSPLY International, a company that serves the world’s dental needs.

Artificial Tooth

In 1931, Trubyte was introduced as a revolutionary product line – ‘New Trubyte Teeth’. New Trubyte Teeth masterfully combined aesthetics with function and performance. This ‘harmony of form’ earned Trubyte a reputation for being the finest artificial teeth in the world. In this era, Trubyte was a true pioneer in its field.

Dentsply International Inc (Dentsply) was incorporated in 1969 in succession to a business previously conducted, since 1899, by The Dentists’ Supply Company of New York (DSCo). Dentsply is currently engaged primarily in the manufacture and wholesale distribution of dental supplies and equipment. The company also operates retail optical dispensaries. Dentsply has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1960.

Dentsply Ltd (Dentsply’s only subsidiary in the United Kingdom) which was located in Brighton at the Diamond Buildings, Coombe Road, BN2 4ER (they are now in Addlestone, Surrey), and incorporated in 1910 as Excelsior Dental Manufacturing Company. Its name was changed to Dentsply Ltd in 1936 at the time of its acquisition by DSCo. Dentsply Ltd manufactures porcelain and plastic artificial teeth.

DeTrey's Diatorics

In October 1970 Dentsply Ltd purchased from ADI the assets and business of a tooth manufacturing factory at Blackpool which ADI had purchased two years earlier from the Dental Manufacturing Company Ltd (DMCo) together with the other dental business of that company. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Dentsply Ltd transferred production of these teeth to its Brighton factory, to both manufacture and supply them for former customers of DMCo. The overall volume of production had increased somewhat since the two manufacturing operations were consolidated in Brighton, as the following comparison between 1974 and 1969 (the last year of operations for the Blackpool factory) shows: Number of teeth produced 1969-1974:

DMCo teeth               11,237,123 (Blackpool)          15,808,743 (Brighton)

Dentsply teeth            17,853,671 (Brighton)             18,676,940 (Brighton)

Dentsply continued in Brighton until1991 when it closed with the loss of 90 jobs after improvements in dental health resulted in orders falling away

DSCo. is the world’s largest producer of artificial teeth (both porcelain and plastic) and these it manufactures in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in various other plants which it either owns or controls in Europe, Australia and South America. It claims to offer the largest variety of artificial teeth in the world, both in the number of lines and in the total of forms, sizes and shades.

Brighton in the Dark Ages

Friday 29th July was the Day of Archaeology 2011. It provided the opportunity to find out all about the world of archaeology, with 400 archaeologists blogging about their work. So, with this in mind, here’s a look at a local discovery revealing another slice of Brighton’s history.

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In 1884, during the building of St Luke’s Church hall in Exeter Street, two adult male burials were uncovered with grave goods including shield bosses and spear heads. Later, in 1893, three shield bosses and a sword unearthed in Stafford Road were presented to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. These discoveries suggested the existence of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in the area.

In 1985, building works at a house off Stafford Road triggered an archaeological rescue operation when workmen uncovered more Anglo-Saxon burials. Over a Bank Holiday weekend, the remains of three skeletons were uncovered, two male and one female, all dating from around the 6^th Century AD. One of the males had died aged about 30 from a serious head wound inflicted by a sword and his skull also exhibited an earlier healed head wound from which he had survived. He was buried with his shield, spear and possibly an iron knife. There is no evidence of cause of death for the other male, aged about 35-40. He was fairly tall at 5’ 11” and robust, although his dental health was poor, demonstrated by evidence of tooth loss and abscesses.

The female skeletal remains were disturbed and damaged by the workmen. However it was determined that she was aged around 40-45 when she died, comparatively old for the early Anglo-Saxon period, and also had poor dental health. She was buried with objects which were likely of most value to her including two copper alloy brooches, two copper alloy rings and a pair of copper alloy tweezers.

Life for these early Saxon settlers appears to have been relatively short-lived and sometimes pretty brutal. Suffering a violent death was not uncommon and life expectancy beyond the age of 40 appears to of been rare. The deficient dental health of two of the skeletons indicates a fairly poor diet and lack of personal hygiene, all of which would have increased vulnerability to disease. This small insight into life in Brighton during the early Anglo-Saxon period suggests it may have been at times somewhat bleak.

Andy, Volunteer Local History & Archaeology

Two of a Kind

This pair of flint axeheads were found together at Clappers Platts near Fulking in 1905 and were later purchased by Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. They date from the Neolithic Period, around 5,000 years ago.

Top side of Axeheads

Under side of Axeheads

Although they are unpolished, the axes have been finely worked so that they are almost identical in size and shape. The flint they were produced from was carefully chosen to ensure that the patterning and coloration match perfectly. Given the effort and care put into their production, it would seem unlikely that the axes were intended for practical use. They were probably made by the same person and then deliberately buried in an act that must have had some important ritual meaning.

The production and trading of stone axes, particularly polished axes, is an important feature of the Neolithic. At a time when land was being cleared of woodland and then cultivated to produce crops, the axe may well have been an important symbol of the change of lifestyle from hunter-gatherer to farmer.

This importance may be reflected in the deliberate burial of groups or ‘caches’ of axes which is fairly common at that time. In general, axes are found in unpolished pairs and because of the similarities in their production, it is thought that in each case the same person would probably have produced them. At the Neolithic site of Combe Hill, one of the six Sussex sites where axe caches have been found, three axes were found carefully placed in the eastern ditch of a causewayed enclosure. Local archaeologist, Professor Peter Drewett, has speculated that the eastern side may well have faced the wilder, uncultivated land and the burying of the axes may well have signified the boundary between the tamed and the untamed.

Although we have little information about the discovery of the axes at Clappers Platts it may well be that they were buried on a similar boundary, as Neolithic farming communities spread from West to East, using their axes to tame the wild woodland.

Andy, Volunteer Local History & Archaeology