Nature Versus Denture: An Ontology of Dental Prostheses

Between 1922 and 1950, a growing interest in mechanical principles led to the emergence of a range of non-anatomic dentures that aimed to eliminate the disadvantages of their anatomic counterparts in favour of better mastication efficiency, stability, comfort, and durability. This paper investigates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchitectural theory review Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 114 - 148
Main Author Ansari, Iman
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Sydney Routledge 03.05.2016
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Anthropology
architectural theory
architecture
Dental materials
dental prosthesis
Dentures
design
history of science and technology
Mastication
Personal communication
Prostheses
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Summary:Between 1922 and 1950, a growing interest in mechanical principles led to the emergence of a range of non-anatomic dentures that aimed to eliminate the disadvantages of their anatomic counterparts in favour of better mastication efficiency, stability, comfort, and durability. This paper investigates why the development of these non-anatomic prostheses came to a halt. In doing so, it analyses a range of cultural and anthropological factors concerned with dental morphology, and concludes that the concept of who we are and what makes us human-our identity, personality, language, culture, or technology-no longer rests within the bounds of our material body, but in the non-material world we have created. And that the social, cultural, and technological systems we have built outside of us have as much influence over our physical and anatomical attributes as we did in shaping them.
ISSN:1326-4826
1755-0475
DOI:10.1080/13264826.2017.1283339