How Did Medieval People Deal With Toothaches? | History For Sleep

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Tonight, you're not curled in a dentist’s chair with soothing music and numbing gel. No — tonight, you're in a smoky cottage, jaw aching, vision blurring, and no one alive knows what a germ is. You’re a common laborer in medieval Europe, and something in your mouth has gone terribly wrong. Over the next hour, you’ll try poultices, fire, prayer, and the mercy of strangers with iron tongs. None of it will work.

This is not a story of healing. This is a slow descent into swelling, superstition, and silent suffering — all narrated with calm, bitter historical detail. By the end, you may still have your tooth… but you’ll wish you didn’t.

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