The materiality and transmutability of ceramic makes it ideal for a variety of purposes. It can handle heat, hold or filter water; it can form a variety of shapes both robust and fragile, practical and decorative, imbued with colour and create a sterile surface. From the mundane to the unusual ceramic has so many unexpected uses… like false teeth.
Early false teeth had been made from bone, ivory, human teeth, vulcanite and metals like gold. They were often status symbols as only the wealthy could afford dental care, and the rare and specialist materials used to create orthodontics.
Dr Simon Myerson was a pioneering dentist in the development of prosthetic teeth, so it was no coincidence that his son Martin was a ceramicist. Dr Myerson started the Ideal Tooth Company (later Myerson Tooth Company) in Boston in 1917. In the late 1930s they created True-Blend, porcelain teeth with an enamel coating designed to match the patient’s natural tooth colour.
Because their goal was to recreate the appearance of natural teeth, they incorporated imperfections and staining to make them harder to spot than existing false teeth on the market. Earlier methods of creating dentures included bone, wood, ivory and animal teeth, bound with gold or lead. But porcelain, being strong, clean and non-toxic, proved more effective and better able to mimic a natural look.
For a closer look at Dr Myerson’s work explore the Australian Dental Association Queensland’s articles and see even more dental history in their collection.
To discover more about the ubiquity of ceramics, visit Fragile and Forever: Ceramics from the Queensland Museum Collection, a free exhibition now on at Queensland Museum Kurilpa: museum.qld.gov.au/kurilpa/whats-on/fragile-and-forever
References
“Unspottable Teeth.” Time, 10 Jun. 1940, https://time.com/archive/6763374/medicine-unspottable-teeth/.
“Prosthetic Poetry of the Unspottable: Myerson’s Teeth.” ADA Queensland, 2025, https://www.adaq.org.au/Web/Web/Dental_Museum/Articles/The_Smile_Improvers/Prosthetic_Poetry_of_the_Unspottable_Teeth.aspx>
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