Human teeth fossils reveal ancient dentistry
An article featured on Science Daily reveals that dentistry may have been “practiced” even before the word itself was coined. A 6,500-year-old human jaw bone with a canine tooth showing traces of beeswax filling has been found and is believed to be evidence of ancient dentistry. Image credit: sciencedaily.com Led by researcher Federico Bernardini and Claudio Tuniz of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy, in cooperation with Sincrotrone Trieste and other institutions, the discovery suggests that beeswax was applied around the time of the individual’s death. The beeswax application was intended to reduce the pain and sensitivity acquired from a vertical crack in the enamel and dentin layers of the individual’s tooth. According to Tuniz, the damage in the tooth may have been caused by its use in “non-alimentary activities,” such as weaving, which was generally performed by Neolithic females. Image credit: moddb.com The specimen was found in Slovenia near Trieste. The researchers note that evidence of prehistoric dentistry is sparse, so they hope that the discovery could help them understand early dental practices more deeply. “This finding is perhaps the most ancient evidence of pre-historic dentistry in Europe and the earliest known direct example of therapeutic-palliative dental filling so far,” says Bernardini. The study was made as a part of the ICTP/Elettra EXACT Project (Elemental X-ray Analysis and computed Tomography), funded by the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Image credit: philly.com California Smile Design is a Newport Beach, California-based dental clinic led by American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry-accredited dentist Dr. Emil Hawary. For more information about dentistry, visit the company’s official website.