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.