The concept of a tooth spontaneously bursting inside the mouth sounds like a bizarre fiction, yet it was a reported medical phenomenon centuries ago. These incidents were described as sudden, loud detonations that followed periods of extreme, debilitating dental pain. The term “exploding teeth” refers to a handful of documented cases, mostly from the 19th century, that perplexed medical practitioners of the era. The reports described teeth shattering into fragments, often providing the patient with immediate and complete relief from their agony. This unusual medical curiosity has since been largely attributed to rudimentary dental practices and a misinterpretation of severe dental trauma.
The Historical Accounts of Exploding Teeth
Reports of these dental detonations emerged primarily throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, appearing in medical journals on both sides of the Atlantic. The accounts were concentrated in Europe and America, where they were recorded as genuine, though rare, clinical events. One of the most frequently cited cases involved a clergyman in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in 1817, who endured such intense toothache that he was driven to near-madness.
The patient’s suffering suddenly ceased after he heard a sharp crack and spit out fragments of his tooth. Another notable incident, documented by American dentist J. Phelps Hibler in 1874, described a patient whose molar “burst with a sharp sound” that temporarily impaired her hearing. The reports shared a common narrative: intense, escalating pain followed by a sudden rupture and instant relief, suggesting a pressure-release mechanism was at play.
Early Theories of Internal Chemical Reactions
Medical professionals of the time struggled to explain these bizarre events, leading to a variety of hypotheses centered on internal chemical processes. A leading theory proposed that gas built up within a decaying tooth, reaching explosive pressures. This was based on the understanding that decay within the tooth could cause the decomposition of pulp and other materials, leading to the accumulation of gases.
Another popular explanation focused on the non-standardized materials used in early dental fillings. In the 1800s, dentists often used a variety of metals to fill cavities. If two different metals were placed in the same mouth, saliva could act as an electrolyte, effectively turning the mouth into a low-voltage battery. This electrochemical reaction, known as spontaneous electrolysis, was theorized to produce hydrogen gas within a poorly sealed cavity, building pressure until the weakened tooth fractured. The lack of modern sterilization and precision in filling techniques contributed to the environment necessary for such theories to be plausible.
Modern Scientific Understanding and Explanations
The modern scientific consensus finds that a tooth cannot physically explode under normal biological conditions, especially since the cases largely disappeared after the 1920s. The primary reason is that the tooth structure, while strong, is not a hermetically sealed container capable of holding sufficient gas pressure to detonate. Any gas produced by decay would simply leak out through microscopic fissures or the existing cavity, preventing the necessary buildup of explosive force.
The historical accounts are now largely explained by a combination of severe, misdiagnosed dental conditions and the physical mechanics of a weakened tooth. The intense, agonizing pain described by patients was caused by acute pulpitis or necrosis, where swelling of the dental pulp inside the rigid structure of the tooth creates immense internal pressure. When an already compromised tooth fractured or cracked, the sudden release of this pressure provided instant relief, which the patient then interpreted as an “explosion.”
Another contributing factor was the thermal properties of the early metal fillings. These materials expanded and contracted at different rates than the natural tooth structure, especially when exposed to temperature changes from food or drink. This constant stress led to physical fractures, particularly in teeth weakened by decay. The phenomenon of a fractured tooth being misinterpreted or sensationalized as an explosion in early medical literature also played a significant role in perpetuating the myth.