first come about? http://www.premierexhibitions.com/exhibitions/4/4/bodies‐exhibition/blog/edentulous‐brief‐history‐dentures Around 700BC, Etruscans in northern Italy made dentures out of human or animal teeth. Although these materials deteriorated quickly, the dentures were easy to produce and remained popular until the mid‐1800s. An important contributor to denture development was dietary changes. Sugar was the main culprit in increased tooth decay during the 18th Century. With the industrialization of Victorian England, between 1860 and 1890, British per capita sugar consumption increased 500 percent. Ivory dentures were popular in the 1700s, made from natural materials including walrus, elephant, or hippopotamus. In 1820, a Westminster silversmith and goldsmith named Claudius Ash was asked to craft new and improved dentures. At the time, most false teeth were still made from ivory (which was prone to discolouring) or from human teeth. The real teeth were extracted from soldiers' corpses or executed criminals, procured by grave‐robbers, or even obtained from direct sale by the desperately impoverished. Claudius Ash mounted porcelain on 18‐karat gold plates, with gold springs and swivels. These new dentures were superior both aesthetically and functionally to the older models. Still improving, from the 1850s onward, dentures were made of Vulcanite, a form of hardened rubber into which porcelain teeth were set. Claudius Ash’s company was the leading European manufacturer of dental Vulcanite. In the 20th century, acrylic resin and other plastics became materials of choice. What we have learnt: False teeth date back to the 700BC, the first false tooth was made out of human and animal teeth. Then over the years they were made out of Ivory, made from natural materials. Then in 1774 Alexis Duchateau created the first porcelain dentures. Now in the 20th Century they’re made out of acrylic resin and other plastics.