Friday 12 October 2012

Mona Lisa without teeth?


Does Mona Lisa from the famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci smile gently because she knows a hidden secret unknown to us, or becasue she did not have teeth? For years scientists has been wondering about the mysteries of Leonardo's genius. Mona Lisa's Smile seems to us intriguing, some argue, however, that the great model's smile could not be different beacause her teeth may have been damaged or she did not have all the teeth.



At the beginning of the sixteenth century, when da Vinci painted his most famous painting, oral hygiene was not properly taken care of by the people of those times. Tooth decay - although present in humans' life for millions of years - started to be classified as a dental disease only in Leonardo's times. Renaissance models posing for paintings probably did not want their descendants to know that their teeth deprived the of beauty or that their teeth were usally completly or partly extracted. The fresh breath of the models was for sure also abad experience. It is not surprise that the paintings from the Renaissance and earlier present weak smiles, which are discreet and intriguing rather than broad with all its glory.

Even though it was in the Renaissance that many discoveries and inventions were created which allowed for oral health care (the Chinese invented the toothbrush and amalgam fillings), it may be that Mona Lisa had no luck to keep a beautiful smile at the time when she was painted by Leonardo.

Take care of propoer oral hygiene and visit your dentist in Poland.

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