By early 19th century sugar was readily available in Europe and relatively affordable which lead to a high consumption. It was causing high levels of tooth decay and demand for dentures was rising alongside the demand for sugar. Replacements were made using ivory but they did not look natural nor long lasting. So dentists started making dentures with real human teeth set to an ivory base. Poor started selling their teeth and grave robbers started digging graves to find more and more teeth to cope with the rising demand. However supply was finite while demand was skyrocketing.
The battle of Waterloo, which was the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte took place in Belgium causing approximately 50000 deaths of young men in their prime age. This battlefield was later a gold mine for gold diggers who were looking for teeth. Unlike the teeth in dead old corpses, teeth from young soldiers were strong and sold for higher sums. Teeth obtained from them were boiled and ends were chopped off and shaped on ivory dentures. Whether the owners knew if their dentures were made from dead soldiers teeth is not certain. However Waterloo battle made dentists and tooth scavengers rich.
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