Yes, rumor has it that George Washington had wooden teeth…. it was before my time, so I will believe this since it is something that you can find on the internet. And you know that it’s true since it was on the internet.

This section has to do with a different type of wood tooth. This wood tooth is a small pin or key chain.

Over many years, wood tooth pins (and sometimes key chains) have been given to dental assisting and dental hygiene students for several reasons. These wood tooth pins have been earned by a student for achieving the highest test score on a given test. Others have earned a wood tooth for grade improvements, for open lab practice tests, for winning a “bet” and for answering a question or two when I see them outside the school environment. These wood teeth have been made out a lot of different types of wood. If a student earns more than one wood tooth, they are not given a tooth made from the same wood. And over the years, there have been several students that have quite a nice collection of wood teeth.

When I think about it, I’m not even sure as to how the concept of the wood tooth came to be. The earliest time that I could remember was somewhere in 2000 or 2001. I don’t even have any earthly idea as to how many wood teeth have been given out over the years. A few years ago, I decided to keep track of the number of wood teeth that I did give out. I was shocked to see that more than 250 were given out within a year. It was a bad year for me- besides giving them out to students, I gave a continuing education course and brought each course participant one. I do believe that I have spent way too many hours in the wood shop cutting, sanding, and spraying wood teeth. Making them by hand is only so fun…. the fun part is giving them out. I appreciate the “excitement” of seeing someone get a wood tooth because that alone makes it worth taking the time to make them.