Sir, I was most interested in the paper on St Apollonia's tooth by Skrobonja et al. (BDJ 2009; 207: 499–502) in which a tooth relic in the cathedral treasury in Rab (Croatia) is described. Whilst it is possible that this tooth really is a relic of St Apollonia it must be recognised that, as the authors state, there are very many instances of fraud which occurred in mediaeval times when false claims were made about so called relics. There is no evidence that the autentica provides a guarantee that the relic is authentic, as claimed by the authors, since these seals were not recognised until 1543, some 1,300 years after St Apollonia's martyrdom.

The authors cite the ten churches listed by Walsh as having relics of St Apollonia. There are, however, numerous other relics purported to be those of the saint. She must have been a remarkable person if even a small fraction of these are correct. It is said that Philip II of Spain, an avid collector of relics, managed 'to amass all 290 holy teeth from the mouth of Saint Apollonia'.1

I am aware of two existing relics in England attributed to St Apollonia, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the other at the Anglican Shrine at Walsingham. In both cases, unlike the Croatian one, the relic is a small fragment of tooth or bone. There was also a relic in the chapel at St Michael's Mount, Cornwall said to be from St Apollonia. That relic is no longer there.

The authors make much of the fact that it could be St Apollonia's tooth as it comes from a young person. However, there is considerable doubt as to the age of the saint when she was martyred. Although she is generally depicted as a young woman many versions of her history describe her as an aged virgin.

There are some 56 representations of St Apollonia in British churches, mainly in stained glass or painted on rood screens. All but one of these is described by Beal2 but there is another one on a rood screen at Hennock, Devon which I found subsequent to preparing that list.