False teeth and real suffering: the social course of 'germectomy' in eastern Uganda

Abstract

The removal of the incipient canine teeth ('germectomy') in small babies is a practice carried out in many parts of eastern Africa. This article describes how 'germectomy' among the Jop'Adhola in Eastern Uganda is an important idiom of distress, referred to as false teeth by English speaking people, and lakijo marach (bad teeth) or gira kwanya (that which is removed) in the local language Dhop'Adhola. Through an analysis of how the notion of false teeth is shaped by macro social forces of war and poverty as well as by negotiations within the local social world, the discussion is taken beyond the question of cultural belief. False teeth as a practice seems to have spread through vast geographical areas within a few decades, but as the example of the Jop'Adhola shows, it has taken a particular social course in eastern Uganda--as it is most likely to also have done everywhere else it has gained a footing. By analyzing its social course we may gain insight into important mediating social processes which may have as much to do with actual health outcome in a particular area as health care per se.