Dental Caries and Tooth Wear in a Byzantine Paediatric Population (7th to 10th Centuries AD) from Yenikapı-Constantinople, Istanbul

Abstract

Dental caries and wear are important conditions to record in archaeological collections. The aim of the present paper is to determine the frequency and distribution of dental caries and dental wear in a mediaeval Byzantine paediatric population in Yenikapı, Constantinople, Istanbul. The present research was carried out on the skeletal remains of 1 infant and 28 children with a total of 180 teeth (113 primary and 67 permanent teeth). The frequency of ante-mortem tooth loss in the sample was 1%. The total frequency of carious lesions in the sample was 2.2%. The frequency of dental wear was rather low (3.3%) exhibiting presence of dentin clusters mostly. The present study evaluated an archaeological collection with low dental wear and low dental caries prevalence indicating a fishing community.

Prevalence of dental paleopathology in a Peruvian pre-hispanic population.

“…Their frequency, however, is affected by cultural factors such as eating habits, nutrients consumed and food production techniques. [4][5][6] The same can be said of malocclusion, periodontal diseases and other tooth direction and site anomalies. The diagnosis and examination of archeological dental tissue, as well as the evaluation of ancient lifestyles would indicate what people consumed and how they lived.…”

Prevalence of dental paleopathology in a Peruvian pre-hispanic population.

“…Their frequency, however, is affected by cultural factors such as eating habits, nutrients consumed and food production techniques. [4][5][6] The same can be said of malocclusion, periodontal diseases and other tooth direction and site anomalies. The diagnosis and examination of archeological dental tissue, as well as the evaluation of ancient lifestyles would indicate what people consumed and how they lived.…”

Befundung jungsteinzeitlicher Zahn- und Kieferfunde aus dem Megalithgrab II von Erwitte-Schmerlecke (Soest) und deren Einordnung in ein Konzept von Ernährung, Mundhygiene und Krankheiten des Craniomandibulärsystems

“…Im Fachgebiet der Paläopathologie wird den Zähnen in den vergangenen Jahren ein stetig wachsendes Interesse zuteil; die Fachdisziplin der Paläodontologie setzt sich ausschließlich mit den Untersuchungen archäologischer Zahnfunde auseinander. Eine große Zahl internationaler Autoren (Schultz 1978;Alt 1987;Lendeckel 1990;Asuming 2001;Koçani et al 2012;Caglar et al 2016) nutzt die Zähne als Quelle von wertvollen Informationen -sie dienen der Aufarbeitung bestimmter zeitlicher Abschnitte der Menschheitsgeschichte in den verschiedenen geographischen Regionen. Die hierfür untersuchten sterblichen Überreste tragen so zu einem tieferen Verständnis unserer Vorfahren bei und stellen eindrucksvoll dar, wie der Tod dem Leben zur Hilfe eilt.…”