ABSTRACT
The earlier gold-band appliances appear to have been made by and for Etruscans or their Italic neighbors, whose cities came to be absorbed into the rapidly expanding Roman state. The use of gold or silver wires, rather than bands, to brace teeth or hold replacement teeth in place appears to be a Near Eastern or Eastern Mediterranean technique. Wire appliances from the Eastern Mediterranean world appear to have been continued in the Hebraic medical tradition, which in turn was absorbed within the Islamic world. Islamic dentistry, including the wiring of teeth, appears to have spread to India with the Muslim expansion in the twelfth century. By 1793 sophisticated porcelain and gold appliances had been introduced to the public in London. By the mid-nineteenth century functional appliances held in place by gold wires or fiber "thread" had become common for those who could afford the price.
