I confess, this was a biographical detail I did not previously know. Would it be invidious of me to point out that General George Washington (for whom, let me quickly point out, I have enormous admiration) was similarly afflicted? See http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/stories-networks-4.html; the text therein is:
Throughout most of George Washington's life he had problems of continuing deterioration of his teeth. This caused him a lot of pain, and none of the dentists he went to knew what to do besides take them out. Slowly but surely all of Washington's teeth were extracted. In 1772 Dr. Baker of Philadelphia extracted several. Finally, George had to have false teeth made. They were made out of hippopotamus ivory and cow's tooth, carved by hand, and held in his mouth with metal springs. These false teeth were a little large for his mouth, creating a peculiar expression, which is exhibited in many of his portraits. Today, the teeth can be viewed at the University of Maryland's National Museum of Dentistry.
My regard for Washington's achievements, which transformed the whole world much for the better, are nothing diminished by this particular revelation...
In spite of Wahington's ummm shall we say "dental disorder"---he managed to become the leader of the greatest nation on earth. Poor, misguided Darwin, however, let his tooth decay lead him into darkness and despair....and lizard communion.