read this and be thankful for modern dentistry. (but it did put me off my lunch.)

it also reminds me of the confusion su-lin and choonping once had over detrivores.

cp: worms are dentrivores. (sic.)
su-lin: are they indeed? what do they eat, teeth?

for both your information, well, these worms do. they lived in your teeth and you had to smoke them out with some heated camomile (i think it's camomile) preparation and the damned things come wriggling out of your mouth.

from a collection of seventy-three experimenta of arnald of villanova.

experimentum aliud pro dolore dentium. dominus papa semel in maxilla dolorem passus fuit, qui dolor veniebat ex inpotentia masticandi cibum. habebat unum dentem maxillarem perforatum interius, et ibi vermis lacitabat; quando autem vermis intra dentem se movebat; predictus dominus paciebatur quamplurimum, nec comedere poterat seu dormire quam cum diligenter inspexissem, sibi facile remedium adhibui, ad quam curam feci colligi quamdam herbam que volgariter vocatur camamila - literaliter autem quamcularia nuncupatur -cuius herbe granum accepi. habui autem tegulam quam ad maxillam aplicui usquequo fuit calida dens, et grana super tegulam posui, et statim propter calorem tegule ex granis fumus processit. feci autem dominum papam os aperire ut illum fumum intra os recieret, qui dum fumum reciperet subito vermis qui erat in dente exivit et cecidit supra tegulam, et sic dentis dolor totaliter cessavit. et istud experimentum valet quamplurimum pro dentibus perforatis in quibus est vermis generatus. si ex aliquo accidenti quis in dentibus dolorem pateretur, sibi predictum remedium non valeret sed aliud esset adhibendum, sicut declarabitur inferius.

from "tractatus de diversitatum infirmitatum curis editus a magistro arnoldo de villanova," MS Salamanca, Universidad 2089, fol 124rA.