THE ROTTING TEETH OF ELIZABETH I

The state of Queen Elizabeth I’s teeth is one of the many details from her life that has captivated historians, shedding light on not only her personal habits but also the trends and health practices of her era. Queen Elizabeth, celebrated as much for her political acumen as for her charisma, was known for her public image of strength and splendor. However, behind this image lay challenges-one of which was her declining dental health. Accounts of Elizabeth’s teeth, which were reportedly blackened, decayed, and possibly a source of pain later in life, offer a glimpse into the dietary and medical practices of her time, as well as the social significance of sugar in Tudor England.
Elizabeth’s dental woes can largely be attributed to her love of sweets, a vice that she shared with the English nobility. During her reign, sugar transitioned from a rare luxury to a staple among the wealthy. At the start of the Tudor period, sugar was so scarce that only the wealthiest could afford it, and it was used sparingly as an ingredient in medicines or for special dishes on rare occasions.
Elizabeth’s dental care practices, or lack thereof by modern standards, likely exacerbated her dental decline. Initially, Elizabeth reportedly brushed her teeth with honey, likely in the belief that it freshened her breath and promoted a pleasant aroma. Later, with the arrival of more abundant sugar, the belief spread that brushing with a sugar paste was beneficial-a practice that must have hastened the decay of her teeth. Toothbrushes as we know them were not in use at the time, and oral hygiene practices were rudimentary, if observed at all. The Queen’s dental hygiene routine likely did more harm than good, contributing to the progression of tooth decay over her lifetime.
In an era when dentistry was primitive and feared, Elizabeth’s dental problems were further compounded by her aversion to treatment. Dentistry in the Tudor era was handled by barber-surgeons, who lacked the tools and training we associate with dental professionals today. These barber-surgeons performed extractions with crude implements and without anesthesia, relying instead on basic methods that were often painful and risky. Elizabeth, like many of her subjects, had a deep fear of these procedures. She reportedly required significant convincing before consenting to have a tooth extracted, going so far as to demand that one of her bishops undergo an extraction himself to demonstrate the pain was bearable. Such reluctance, while understandable given the circumstances, allowed her dental health to deteriorate further, leaving her with an uneven, yellowed, and visibly compromised smile.
Descriptions of Elizabeth at various stages in her life reflect both her physical beauty and the toll that her dental issues took over time. In her youth, she was praised for her appearance. At age twenty-two, Elizabeth was described as having a “handsome face,” a youthful and vibrant image captured in portraits of the time. At twenty-four, another description notes that her face was “comely rather than handsome,” yet she was tall, well-formed, and had a pleasant, swarthy complexion. Her expressive eyes and famously beautiful hands were considered some of her finest attributes. Elizabeth herself was proud of her looks, often drawing attention to them, particularly her hands, which she used to gesture dramatically during speeches and performances.
However, as she aged and her dental problems worsened, her appearance became less celebrated, and accounts shifted in tone. By age thirty-two, seven years into her reign, Elizabeth’s modesty about her beauty was reportedly mixed with a sly vanity; she was known to admit she was never truly beautiful, though she spoke of her appearance often. By the time she reached her sixties, comments on her beauty had grown noticeably more critical. At age sixty-four, a French ambassador described Elizabeth as “very aged…long and thin, with very yellow and unequal teeth.” The German traveler Paul Hentzner, who saw Elizabeth at age sixty-five, painted an even harsher picture: “Her face is oblong, fair but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked, her teeth black (a fault the English seem to suffer from because of their great use of sugar); she wore false hair, and that red.” Such observations suggest that Elizabeth’s dental condition was severe enough to catch the attention of foreign visitors and become a noticeable part of her appearance in her later years.