When Marie-Antoinette was 12, her mother decided that she was to marry the son of the King of France, who insisted that everything about the girl who married the dauphin must be perfect and sent a dentiste to straighten her crooked teeth. This is how orthodontia was practiced in the 18th century, as described in THE BAD QUEEN--and I'm not making this up:
"He placed a block of wood in my mouth to hold it open, gripped one of my upper teeth in the jaws of a dreadful instrument...and forced the tooth into a new position....Several footmen rushed to pin me down and hold my head in place while I howled...."
Later when he has finished, he hands her a mirror. "The gold wires, fastened to each tooth with a silk thread, gleamed back at me. I thought I looked ridiculous."
Anyone who has worn braces, as I did, and as my granddaughter, Sophie, does now, can certainly sympathize. (See my picture on the MY LIFE page, Before Braces.)
Next week: What About That Hair?
"He placed a block of wood in my mouth to hold it open, gripped one of my upper teeth in the jaws of a dreadful instrument...and forced the tooth into a new position....Several footmen rushed to pin me down and hold my head in place while I howled...."
Later when he has finished, he hands her a mirror. "The gold wires, fastened to each tooth with a silk thread, gleamed back at me. I thought I looked ridiculous."
Anyone who has worn braces, as I did, and as my granddaughter, Sophie, does now, can certainly sympathize. (See my picture on the MY LIFE page, Before Braces.)
Next week: What About That Hair?