Shalom. As a prime destination for medical tourism, many dental clinics in Costa Rica are staffed by multilingual professionals. At the Flikier Dental Institute, for example, English is spoken along with Spanish, French, and even Hebrew.

On the day that Judaism celebrates its New Year holiday, which is known as Yom Teruah and Rosh Hashanah, it is important to remember the significant influence of Ancient Hebrew culture in the modern dentistry practice.

Through archeological research we know that ancient Egyptians were skilled in the art of dental prosthesis manufacturing; however, this practice was limited to fake teeth for aesthetic purposes. Oral health was not widely practiced in ancient Egypt; on the other hand, we see many biblical and Talmudic references to oral prophylaxis in ancient scriptures.

According to the study Dentistry in the Bible and Talmud, authored by Dr. Samuel Greif in 1918, teeth are mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament. In Genesis, for example, we find that the elder Esau had major problems related to oral health, particularly with loose and painful teeth that drove him to tears. In the Book of Job, teeth are mentioned to an almost obsessive point.

In the Talmud, Dr. Greif finds that oral hygiene seems to have been a prevalent theme among its ancient authors. Numerous references are related to nutrition and its effect on fresh breath, particularly with regard to proper hydration and the intake of lentils, sodium, and fermented beverages. Dr. Greif also found mentions to dental anatomy used to interpret dreams in the Talmud.

In 1985, archeologists in Israel made a very interesting discovery. As reported by the Chicago Tribune:

In Israel’s Negev Desert, archeologists have unearthed traces of an ancient toothache that is sending scholarly ripples through the world of dental history. It may be evidence of the world’s oldest root canal, found in the jaw of a Nabataean soldier who died [about 2,000 years ago]. X-rays of the jaw revealed a fine bronze wire, one-tenth of an inch long, inside the tooth’s nerve cavity.

It is believed this ancient root canal was probably performed by a Roman practitioner stationed in Hebrew lands, which may have influenced advanced dentistry among the Judaic tribes, an influence that remains to this very day.

In Costa Rica, the first wave of Jewish immigration was largely Sephardi. These were mostly merchants who had already tried their luck in Panama and a few Caribbean islands; however, a 2007 research study into Masonic groups in Costa Rica from 1865 to the end of the 19th century (PDF) indicates membership of eight Jewish dentists.

In 1891, Jewish dentist Maximilian Fischel Hirschberg arrived in Costa Rica from Colombia, where he had contracted malaria. Mr. Fischel enjoyed our country’s climate, and thus he chose to stay. Mr. Fischel eventually became patriarch of a powerful clan that these days controls a major chain of drugstores.