The History of Oral Health: Evidence from...
Biological Anthropology at Freiburg University contributed to a preliminary analysis of the GHHP data by analysing data on oral health markers. They presented their results on a poster on oral heath in the dedicated poster session.
Abstract
Oral health data derived from the teeth and jaws of the sample of 12,000 burials recorded so far by History of Health in Europe Project members are an important source of information on both diet and overall health. The most accessible dental health indices are those derived from observations of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss. Tooth decay and tooth loss have linkages to dietary, economic and lifestyle changes. Especially relevant in this regard are the increases in dental caries rates associated with the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture and the further increase in caries rate associated with the introduction of large quantities of sugar to the European diet as a result of an expansion of international trading relationships during the Late Medieval and Modern periods.
We recorded the following oral health related variables for each burial: total number of erupted tooth positions observed, total number of permanent teeth with carious lesions, total number of teeth lost premortem, and total number of abscesses observed. Statistical analyses indicate that overall, European women had a higher proportion of teeth with carious lesions than did men (x squared = 11.5, p = 0.0007). The proportion of carious teeth in the dentitions of people decreased significantly (x squared = 6.9, p = 0.009) between Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages and then increased significantly between the the Early and High Middle Ages (x squared = 4.99, p = 0.02) and especially between the High and Late Middle Ages (x squared = 7.2, p = 0.007).
Wittwer-Backofen U, Engel F et al. (2009) The history of oral health: evidence from dental caries, dental abscesses, antemortem tooth loss. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 138:275
Additional Information
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Data last updated | 24 September 2015 |
| Metadata last updated | 1 May 2014 |
| Created | 1 May 2014 |
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