In ancient Egypt, ample proof has been found on the existence of the Dental or oral doctor, or the commonplace dentist, in today's terms. The Egyptians gave great importance to the tooth and related it with the mystical God, Ptah, whose teeth were believed to have creating powers. They related this power of the God to our human ability to form words due to the presence of teeth.

Written proofs of the existence of Egyptian dentists were found to be as old as 2650 BC, mentioning the name of a dentist, Hesy-Re. Later on, Herodotus also wrote and spoke of 50 unique individuals who specialized in affairs of the teeth. However, dentists were royal property and were patronized by the King for royal purposes and research. Hence, these dentists cannot be said to be practitioners. The commoners had to approach the "swnw" or the general practitioner for any sort of orthodontic problem. Even within the profession, you had two classes of dentists, one were the elites or the "ir-iryw-ibew, meaning "the greatest of dentists", and the "iryw-ibew" meaning simple dentists.

Their treatment was confined to a trial and error system and the scribbling down of prescription on to a piece of papyri. They were also believed to have exuded in supernatural powers and would make use of magic in dentistry and carrying out primordial cosmetic implants. Egyptian dentistry had the primary objective of prevention of any dental ailments, as their knowledge was not advanced enough for the cure of ailments and dental disease. The main aim of the Egyptian dentist was to provide oral health care to prevent any further damage.