6. The Toothache Piano
In 1890s France, a dentist who moonlighted as a pianist invented a peculiar contraption: a small keyboard patients could play while receiving dental care. It was meant to “distract from pain.” Patients would tickle out sad, wobbly tunes mid-root canal—assuming they weren’t drooling too much to press a key.
The idea backfired fast. Most people were too terrified to compose anything but frantic noise, and dentists complained the melodies made it hard to concentrate. One review even called it “Mozart meets medieval torture.” Unsurprisingly, the invention didn’t catch on. Still, it remains one of the most bizarre mashups of music and medicine ever created.
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