Bonifacio’s teeth, Rizal’s breath

Did Rizal have bad breath? That was a question raised when a dentist commented extensively on a photo of Rizal’s skull that I used in one of my lectures a few months ago.

Public lectures provide me with an opportunity to test my ideas before a live audience—with applause or audible snoring as a measure of delivery and audience impact. Comments from the floor are always welcome because my audience points me to things I have overlooked in my lectures.

That Rizal needed braces is old hat. A dentist studying Rizal’s skull concluded that he had “Class 3 Malocclussion” (sungki or misaligned).

When I replied in jest that all dentists prescribe braces to make money, my attention was drawn to Rizal’s photos showing his protruding jaw. Braces would have corrected the way his teeth grew and formed, resulting in a better-looking hero we now recognize from his mugshot.

The new dental findings on Rizal confirm that he really needed braces to correct the Class 3 Malocclussion, but there was much more. Rizal probably had: gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), and periodontitis (an inflammation or infection of the ligaments and bones that support the teeth), both resulting in halitosis (bad breath)! I presume Rizal brushed his teeth with a toothbrush and tooth powder available in the 19th century—a presumption also based on a bamboo toothbrush holder he made in Dapitan for his sister Trinidad. I presume he did not want people to mix toothbrushes or, worse, use another person’s brush. I cannot be sure if he flossed his teeth, and if he did, whether he used thread or a long strand of human hair.

History is much more exciting now because we are not confined to documents. We can use photographs, artifacts, and even mortal remains a la CSI. Gregorio del Pilar, the boy-general, was killed in Tirad Pass in 1899. When his remains were exhumed later, he was identified through the gold fillings in his teeth. His mandible showed that some of his teeth were sungki. General Goyo, like Rizal, also needed braces.

While we are discussing teeth, few people know that a set of human bones were excavated in Cavite in 1918 and were alleged to be those of the ill-fated Andres Bonifacio. An autopsy was undertaken in 1918 in the University of the Philippines by Doctors Sixto de los Angeles, Fidel Cuanjunco and Augusto Atenas. The official report merely described the remains but did not identify these conclusively as those of the supremo.

One of the significant findings was that the John Doe found in Cavite filed his teeth! Thus Dr. Cuanjunco confirmed this with Espiridiona Bonifacio, younger sister of the supremo. This new information was uncovered by the tireless Emmanuel Encarnacion in an article that appeared in the Nov. 28, 1926 issue of the newspaper Pagkakaisa. The article stated: “May paniwala ang lupong tagasiyasat na kay Andres Bonifacio nga ang mga butong natuklasa’t nahukay.”  (The investigation team believes the bones discovered and excavated are those of Andres Bonifacio.) I have yet to read the whole article, but the excerpts provided by Encarnacion in the Feb. 26, 2012 issue of Bayanihan (Newsletter of the Bayanihan Collectors Club) are as follows: Espiridiona stated that Bonifacio “had teeth that were big and small. The upper teeth he used to chew were wide and long.”

Doctor de los Angeles (Q): How would you describe the lower teeth that were before/in front of the incisors?

Espiridiona (A):  [These were] small and smooth (“maliliit at makinis”).

Q:  Were these teeth malalantik (flaring)?

A: Opo.

Q: How do you know?

A: Because when he lived in our house, I would often see him sharpening the surface of his teeth with a piece of earthenware (“tapayan”). I cannot remember now, but I recall that he had teeth with holes because he often placed “creosota” (a type of sedative) on them.

Q: Ang kanyang ipin ay hindi po ba hasa? (Weren’t his teeth filed?)

A: Yes.

Q: Isn’t it true that one of his teeth broke from an accident while he was cleaning his gun?

A: I heard of something like that.

Q: What do you know about his broken teeth?

A: I was informed that this resulted from a stab with a “balaraw” in a face-to-face combat. The tip of the blade hit him on the mouth that resulted in a flow of blood when he was brought to Nagpatong, Cavite.

Why was this 1926 article trying to mislead the public into believing that the 1918 autopsy declared without doubt that the bones were those of Bonifacio? In 1925, Lazaro Makapagal was brought to Mt. Nagpatong (near Mt. Pumutok, Mt. Buntis and Mt. Hulog) to verify Bonifacio’s burial site. Makapagal said that he buried the body elsewhere, the alleged “Bonifacio bones” were fake! Makapagal was an expert witness, someone who had personal knowledge of the death and burial of Bonifacio, yet his word was dismissed by those who chose hearsay and insisted that the Bonifacio bones were authentic. Well, the bones mysteriously disappeared and have never been found because they would not have withstood closer scrutiny. Andres and Procopio Bonifacio still lie in the Maragondon range waiting to be found and given a proper funeral by a grateful nation. If the teeth studied are authentic and if the analysis is correct it seems that Rizal had a condition like the comedian “Babalu” and Bonifacio’s was like “Apeng Daldal.”

* * *

Comments are welcome in my Facebook Fan Page.