The Body Politic and the Citizen’s Mouth: Oral Health and Dental Care in Nineteenth-Century Manhattan

Abstract

As American democracy burgeoned in the 19th century, citizenship was expressed in the young nation in part through bodily-care regimes as well as consumption practices. The mouth, in particular, might therefore be considered a locus at which class, medical practices, and ideologies of citizenship and identity articulate. Historical bioarchaeology is uniquely situated to approach the broader social context of dental health in the past. Using multiple lines of evidence, including archaeological and archival sources, bioarchaeologists can investigate the ways discourses on health and the body, as well as urbanizing and industrializing forces, influenced both dental disease and dental care. This study investigates oral health in the skeletal remains from the Spring Street Presbyterian Church burial vaults (ca. 1820–1850) in New York City. Rates of carious lesions, abscesses, and antemortem tooth loss are contextualized through artifacts and historical documents. Archaeological evidence in the burial vaults for dental care includes prosthetic devices and fillings, while archival sources document preventative dental care, dietary choices, and engagement with discourses on the body and citizenship.