Oldest evidence of dental work discovered in ancient molar

A recently-discovered tooth shows that the art of dentistry is at least 5,000 years older than previously expected, as the 14,000-year-old infected molar shows signs of being cleaned by flint tools, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports.

In addition to representing the oldest known dentistry, paleoanthropologist Stefano Benazzi of the University of Bologna and his colleagues told Discovery News that the archeological find is also the oldest example of an operative manual intervention on a pathological condition.

Benazzi added that the molar, which belonged to an approximately 25-year-old man from the northern part of Italy, “predates any undisputed evidence of dental and cranial surgery, currently represented by dental drillings and cranial trephinations dating back to the Mesolithic-Neolithic period, about 9,000-7,000 years ago.”

The man’s well-preserved remains were found in 1988 and were dated to being between 13,820 and 14,160 years old, the website said. Even though the skeleton itself was discovered more than two decades ago, however, the dental work went unnoticed until recently.

Using stone tools to remove infected tissues (ouch!)

Benazzi explained that the cavity was “described as a simple carious lesion,” and as he and his fellow researchers explained in their paper, the discovery shows that humans had already started using rudimentary forms of dental treatments during Late Upper Palaeolithic period.

They analyzed the lower right third molar of the individual and found that the tooth had a large occlusal cavity with four cavities, Discovery News said. They went on to spot unusual striations in the internal surface of the cavity using a scanning electron microscope. Benazzi said that these were likely the results of slicing in different directions using a microlithic point.

The study authors went on to carry a series of experiments on three of the molars using wood, bone and microlithic points to confirm that the striations were characteristic of scratching and chipping. Benazzi told the website that the infected tissue would have been carefully removed from the inside of the tooth using a small and sharp stone tool, thus showing that people in the Late Upper Paleolithic understood the need to treat deep dental cavities.

Furthermore, the researchers said that the enamel had been partially rounded and polished due to wear, which indicates that the individual had undergone his dental work well before he died. Co-author Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara told Discovery News that the research marked a key discovery in the development of historical dental surgery.

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Feature Image: Thinkstock

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