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The Bling of the Ancients

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-oldest-school dept.

If you think hip-hop stars like Flavor Flav started the craze of jewel-studded teeth, you'd be wrong. A new study shows that Native Americans were using sophisticated dentistry techniques to add bling to their smiles 2,500 years ago. These ancient people used notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems to beautify their teeth. According to the study, the dentistry was for purely cosmetic purposes. "They were not marks of social class," says José Concepción Jiménez, an anthropologist at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

4 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Instead of dentistry... by Lord_Frederick · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe they should have increased their weapons research budget instead.

  2. Not Marks of Class by Fantom42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Were they marks of a lack of class?

  3. Re:Medical Tourism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    > They knew how to drill ... without hitting the pulp.

    They knew that the second time they tried it.

    The first guy? His is the skull with the teeth missing, so we don't know whether they hit the pulp or not, but I bet we can guess.

  4. Re:Cosmetics by StikyPad · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's the difference between 24k gold teeth, and 24k gold plated teeth. With plastic spinners.

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