When Donald Trump joined Elon Musk for a live interview on X (previously Twitter) late final 12 months, the dialog coated a variety of great subjects: his near-assassination, Biden’s withdrawal from the race, and the way forward for the presidency. Nevertheless, for a lot of viewers, an surprising element stole the highlight: Trump’s slurred speech and lisp.
Was Trump sporting dentures? The general public actually appeared to assume so. All through the interview, the phrase “dentures” was talked about over 15,000 instances on X and the interview sparked the resurgence of the hashtag #DenturedDonald.
Why does this matter? Trump is, in any case, 78 years outdated, and a 2017 survey confirmed that almost one in 4 Individuals aged 75 and older haven’t any enamel left in any respect. Nevertheless, presidential dental well being has lengthy had an influence on public notion and management itself. From George Washington’s notorious dentures to Teddy Roosevelt’s toothy grin, a president’s enamel (or lack thereof) have typically formed the way in which they’re seen by the American public.
For the reason that appointment of George Washington as the primary US president, it has been custom for every new president to fee a portrait of themselves throughout their time in workplace. Nevertheless, it was not till Ronald Reagan’s portrait, accomplished in 1991, that we noticed a president depicted with a smile.
That is partly to do with practicality – many early portraits have been painted from life, and sitting with a smile for hours was nearly inconceivable – and partly to do with etiquette. Within the 18th century, a large smile was thought of an indication of lewdness and drunkenness and related largely with the decrease courses.
Certainly, a 1703 text on “decorum and civility” mentioned that some folks half their lips in order that “their enamel are nearly solely seen. That is solely contradictory to decorum, which forbids you to permit your enamel to be uncovered, since nature gave us lips to hide them.”
It’s typically instructed that historic portraits averted smiles due to poor dental hygiene, however in actuality, social conventions performed a a lot bigger function. For earlier presidents, sustaining a picture of sobriety, morality and respectability was essential, and a critical expression was seen as a mirrored image of those values.
This all modified with Teddy Roosevelt. When Roosevelt turned the twenty fifth US president in 1901, pictures was changing into rather more accessible. Technological developments and the introduction of handheld cameras meant that pictures might be practised by a much wider vary of individuals.
Due to this, Roosevelt was typically candidly photographed whereas laughing or smiling, resulting in his fame as “the primary president who smiled”.
ClassicStock / Alamy Inventory Photograph
He even capitalised on his grin in his 1904 marketing campaign by releasing the Teddy’s Teeth Whistle. Retailing at 5 cents (US$1.77 or £1.44 in at the moment’s cash), supporters have been inspired to purchase a set and “blow the horn for Teddy”.
Roosevelt’s embrace of his smile and the promotion of his enamel marked a shift in how a president’s picture might be used to affect public notion, exhibiting that good dental well being might be a robust political instrument.
Worse than wooden
Not all presidents have been as diligent as Roosevelt when it got here to dental hygiene. George Washington, for instance, was notorious for his poor dental well being.
His letters, diaries and monetary accounts reveal a protracted historical past of dental troubles, finally resulting in his use of dentures. Nevertheless, opposite to widespread perception, Washington’s dentures weren’t manufactured from wooden. As an alternative, they have been produced from supplies together with ivory, animal enamel and human enamel.
One in every of Washington’s account books reveals that he purchased 9 enamel from enslaved folks on his Mount Vernon plantation. This element provides a sinister layer to the historical past of Washington’s dental care as a result of, whereas these folks have been paid for his or her enamel, their enslaved standing in all probability left them with little selection within the matter.
Washington’s poor dental hygiene additionally prolonged to his care of his dentures. They turned notoriously stained, largely on account of his fondness for wealthy purple wine. One letter from his dentist chastised him for the situation of his dentures, stating: “The set [of dentures] you despatched me from Philadelphia … was very black, occasioned both by your soaking them in port wine, or by your ingesting it. I counsel you to both take them out after dinner and put them in clear water … or clear them with a brush.”
These insights into Washington’s dental struggles underscore the lasting impact of oral well being on the presidential picture.
Presidential dental well being has performed, and continues to play, an essential function in shaping public notion, with enamel typically serving as symbols of each private care and political energy. Whether or not influencing how a president is seen or reflecting broader social attitudes, the state of a pacesetter’s enamel has clearly left its mark on the historical past of the workplace.
