Victorian-Era Dentures in Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

There are few formal publications in Australia relating to Victorian-era dentures and reliable evidence relating to their contemporaneous design, ownership and type is almost non-existent. Archeologists have reported only ten denture units retrieved from eight individuals interred in 19^th century Australian cemeteries. A salvage excavation in 2001 at the North Brisbane Burial Grounds (NBBG, 1843-1875) uncovered, inter alia, an assemblage of two metal- and two vulcanite-based dentures. The names of the owners, the records of the dental practitioners and allied contextual information have been lost. This report is the first detailed analysis in Australia of 19^th century dentures. It presents an investigation into the composition and underpinning laboratory technology within this quartette of NBBG artifacts, which represent half the known, and the only two alloy-based, dentures retrieved from 19^th century cemeteries throughout Australia. The data within is a compilation of and extensive literature review, historical research methods, macroscopic inspection, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The results provide insight into dental practice and affiliated technologies in Victorian-era Brisbane.