Our Great Presidents… And Their Not-so-Great Teeth

How President Washington and Lincoln Could Have Benefitted from the 3D Printing Technology we have Today

By: Yana Artemov

As President’s Day approaches, it is important to remember and honor the influential impact that President George Washington and Abraham Lincoln had on our great country. Even though many of us have grown up hearing about all these men accomplished, most of us might not have heard about the dental baggage that came with it.

Our first president had more than his fair share of dental problems; it is known that he tried anything and everything when it came to dentures, from a mix of animal teeth to different metal alloys. By the time he was inaugurated as our first president in 1789, he only had one real tooth left. However, that wouldn’t have mattered, as the 3D printing technology we have now would have ensured that his transition from real teeth to fake ones was a simple and perfect fit. Better yet, current dental equipment could have supplied him with the correct implant parts and resins to ensure that his new set of 3D-printed dentures matched the one real tooth he had left. He’d be able to say goodbye to the constant trial and error of different dentures and smile with ease as he looked over the beginning of this country. 

Now, taking a fast forward about 50 years or so to 1841, when Abraham Lincoln was about to get a tooth pulled, we could have also stopped him from the unfortunate dental visit that left him with a broken jaw. We have a feeling that Lincoln would have benefited greatly if his dentist had access to an intraoral 3D scanner to get a good look at all his teeth before trying to pull one out. Maybe then Lincoln wouldn’t have developed his huge, life-long fear of the dentist- one that was so bad it led him to sedate himself before any future visits. 

Overall, it’s clear that our dental technology would have helped our two presidents greatly, but since we can’t do anything to change the past, hopefully, dental 3D printing can help change the future. Allowing both future presidents and ordinary people to have access to dental care that helps, not hurts, their smiles. 

Work Cited:

“The Trouble with Teeth.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon, The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/health/washingtons-teeth#:~:text=and%20subsequent%20retirement.-,explore%20this%20object,the%20shape%20of%20his%20face. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025. 

Ragovin, Helene. “All the Presidents’ Teeth.” Tufts Now, Tufts Now, 1 Apr. 2017, now.tufts.edu/2017/04/01/all-presidents-teeth. 

“6 Interesting Facts about United States Presidents Teeth.” Granger Pediatric Dentistry, Granger Pediatric Dentistry, 2 Mar. 2022, www.grangerpd.com/facts-about-united-states-presidents-teeth/.