title: Dental care and dentistry practice in the Medieval Medical School of Salerno.
abstract: Even though dental care is sometimes erroneously considered a modern practice, written records from major ancient civilisation all around the world date back to several millennia BC. In particular, in the Middle Ages, among the tenth and thirteenth centuries, the illustrious Medical School of Salerno in Italy, the most important institution in the Western world for the diffusion of medical knowledge, disseminated through its precepts the importance of oral hygiene and practiced specific dental therapies for tooth decay, gingivitis, paradentosis and halitosis among others. Interestingly, several of the officinal plants and natural ingredients proposed for oral care by the school's most famous physicians recipes, notably those of the legendary Trotula De Ruggiero, considered the first female physician in history, are still in vogue in the twenty-first century.
authors.affiliation: History of Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bifulco
authors.affiliation: Dentistry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.affiliation: History of Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gangemi
authors.affiliation: History of Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marasco
authors.affiliation: Dentistry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caggiano
authors.affiliation: Dentistry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.affiliation: History of Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081, Baronissi, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pisanti
mesh_terms: D003729:Dental Care / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000266:history; D012577:Schools, Medical