Below note how the Maya depicted status and the immense patience show by such chieftains. The elite and powerful Maya set themselves apart wearing jade inlays in their teeth. Only dignitaries could afford this status. Great precision was required to drill the holes and then to adhere the inlays in place. Have compassion for those who endured this ritual, and marvel at the fine workmanship and the skill the dentist must have had to gain the lasting fit you see.
These rare teeth are shown courtesy of Emilio Colmenares, Curator of the Maya Museum headquartered in La Isla de Santa Barbara, Petén, Guatemala. We regret it is not possible to show you the Emperor's skull, skeleton and all his fine teeth. But you appreciate teeth would be unlikely to decompose after 1,300 years as compared to the skin or skull. So, please don't ask the Curator or his Exchange Officer to give you the name of a Maya Indian dentist who can do a jade inlay for you. Though 5.8 million Maya reside in Guatemala, the question is not a matter of, "what is the fee?" With so many Maya available, we could ask for someone to do the inlays. But do you have the many months that opening a hole with a stick normally takes?
Having sat in a dental chair over three months in Taiwan for just one tooth, I’m sure great patience and endurance was required by those who had these jade inlays. Imagine doing it without today’s pain killers. To have had this done, the recipient had to be quite eager to be set apart from others.
Literally man months are
required to solely to excavate, much less to locate, archive, register
and protect such treasures. Our Museum has an immense number of
holdings that have been seen by only a few handfuls of people but that
could change if a documentary is made and distributed to large Museums
having the capacity to more widely expose the artifacts.
[1] Shea, M. E. Culture and customs of