Old School Beauty Treatments That Should Stay Vintage

Using Radium As Teeth Whitener

Radium has a long history of being misused. However, people did not understand the true dangers of radioactive material during the start of the 20th century. It was once used in glassmaking, and people still collect radium pieces that glow green with a blacklight today. It was also once used as a teeth whitener. While we're not sure if it actually made people's teeth glow green, we do know that its effects were extremely harmful.

People coined a term for women who worked with the substance and painted watches that glowed in the dark: Radium Girls. Many of them would go on to die or suffer long-term health effects.