When Americans think about George Washington, they think about the courage he displayed during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War.
They consider him one of the greatest Presidents in American History and an indispensable part of America's founding.
However, did you ever wonder why George Washington had his mouth closed during each of his photos? His mouth always seemed clenched. It has been said that the reason his mouth was closed during his portraits was because he had bad teeth.
Is that true?
I highly doubt that the reason George Washington was painted with his mouth clenched was because of his teeth. That is just the way portraits were made. It is not as though there was a photographer taking pictures; it was a painting that took days to produce.
It is true that Washington had dental issues by the time he was 24 years old, and he had always kept it as a bit of a secret.
There were many times in his adult life he sought out a dentist, but the practice of dentistry was rudimentary at the time, and false teeth were archaic. It did not stop him from trying to fix this problem until his death.
So, to answer the question and address a myth:
George Washington did not have wooden teeth, but he did have false teeth.
His false teeth could have been constructed from animal teeth, elephant tusks, his own teeth, or teeth from other humans. They could have appeared wooden due to being stained, but they would not have been wooden.