Biocultural implications of oral pathology in an ancient Central California population

Analysis of oral conditions to explore subsistence strategies in the ecologically diverse environments of the Canary Islands during the Amazigh period (1st to 15th centuries CE)

OBJECTIVE

This study examines oral health conditions in the pre-European Amazigh population of the Canary Islands (1st-15th centuries) to uncover patterns linked to island-specific environments and subsistence practices. The Canary Islands offered diverse ecological settings that shaped how the Amazigh adapted their agricultural practices, creating landscapes to support settlement.

DESIGN

By analyzing the oral health of 615 adult individuals across seven major islands-including caries, dental wear, calculus, periodontal disease, and antemortem tooth loss-the study identifies three distinct patterns of oral health within the archipelago.

RESULTS

Gran Canaria exhibited the highest prevalence of dental caries, aligning with an agriculture-centered lifestyle. In contrast, La Gomera, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote showed the lowest caries rates, suggesting less agricultural dependence. El Hierro and La Palma populations presented both high caries prevalence and extensive dental wear, likely due to a diet including famine-related foods like fern roots. The findings also indicate sex-based differences in oral health across islands but no significant distinctions by age.

CONCLUSIONS

These patterns highlight a relationship between the diverse biogeography of the islands, subsistence strategies, and oral health in the Amazigh period. This study contributes valuable insights into how different environments and resource availability impacted the diet and health of the Canary Islands' Amazigh populations.

Prevalence and Severity of Circumferential Alveolar Bone Loss Using CBCT Images: A Retrospective Study of 20,620 Surfaces of 5155 Teeth

Periodontal disease is a site-specific disease affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth. It is useful for the clinician to have information about the prevalence and severity of alveolar bone loss (ABL) according to the site, location, and position of the teeth for a better treatment plan and expected prognosis. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of ABL at mesial, distal, buccal and lingual sites of teeth in different locations, positions and sides of the dentition. The ABL of 20,620 sites of 5155 teeth in 212 patients was assessed using cone-beam computed tomography from the cemento-enamel junction to the crest of the alveolar bone. The prevalence of ABL was higher in the interproximal sites as well as anterior and mandibular teeth compared to their counterparts. Buccal sites and anterior teeth revealed higher ABL levels than the other tooth sites and posterior teeth, respectively. Furthermore, associations in the severity of ABL were observed between distal and mesial sites, buccal and lingual sites, maxillary and mandibular teeth, anterior and posterior teeth, and right and left sides. This study showed that the prevalence and severity of ABL differ from one tooth site to another and according to the tooth's location in the dentition. Higher prevalences were found in the interproximal sites, anterior teeth and mandibular teeth; higher ABL was found in buccal and distal sites, with the strongest associations between distal and mesial sites, buccal and lingual sites, and right and left sides.

Changes in the oral status and periodontal pathogens in a Sardinian rural community from pre-industrial to modern time

The oral microbial profile in humans has evolved in response to lifestyle changes over the course of different eras. Here, we investigated tooth lesions and the microbial profile of periodontal bacteria (PB) in dental calculus of a Sardinian pre-industrial rural community. In total, 51 teeth belonging to 12 historical individuals buried in an ossuary in the early 1800s and 26 modern teeth extracted from 26 individuals from the same geographical area were compared to determine the oral health status, bacterial load and amount of most relevant PB. Total caries and bacterial genomes count appeared to be sex-related in historical samples. Historical females presented a higher incidence of caries, PB pathogens and a higher bacterial load than historical males. Furthermore, we compared the PB profile of the historical individuals with the modern ones, revealing a notable increase in modern individuals of PB belonging to “Red complex bacteria” often associated with periodontitis and other chronic diseases of modern life. Our findings could be explained through an analysis of environmental factors such as socioeconomic, hygienic and healthy conditions that can have a great impact on oral health and bacterial composition among individuals of the same and different eras.

Oral conditions of the pre-Hispanic mummies of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the oral conditions of pre-Hispanic mummies from Gran Canaria (5th-11th centuries AD), comparing the results with published data from the non-mummified population.

MATERIALS

440 teeth and 764 alveoli of 30 adult mummies.

METHODS

Macroscopic examination of pathological and non-pathological features of the oral cavity, using standardized criteria.

RESULTS

The mummies reveal frequent dental caries (11.8%), especially affecting molars (27.6%), a high prevalence of calculus (66.3%) and periodontal disease (34.9%). The average wear is characterized by extensive dentine exposure. Periapical lesions (10.6%) and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) (15.9%) are common. A high percentage of individuals exhibit linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) (84%). Except for periodontitis, the data indicate the absence of significant statistical differences between the mummies and the skeletonized sample.

CONCLUSIONS

The profile of the dental pathologies of the mummies indicates a carbohydrate-rich diet that contained abrasive grit from the stone querns used to grind cereals. Comparison of the oral conditions of mummified and skeletonized remains shows no differences in access to food resources, reinforcing the recent rejection of the traditional interpretation of the mummies as the pre-eminent status group of Canarian society.

SIGNIFICANCE

This is the first study to delve into the oral conditions of pre-Hispanic mummified remains from Gran Canaria. The results have implications for the framing of research questions based on the social status of these mummies.

LIMITATION

The preserved sample of mummified remains of ancient Canarians is small.

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Comparative analysis from a diachronic perspective would improve understanding of the historical development of ancient Canarians.

Prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in a historical Austrian population

Objective

To assess the prevalence and severity of periodontitis based on different diagnostic methods in a historical Austrian population from the early middle ages.

Background

The description of the oral health status of archaeological material can provide interesting insights into prevalence, severity, and extent of oral diseases. Herein, the periodontal health status of the skeletal remains of medieval Avars (700‐800 AD), which were considered as one of the earliest Avarian settlements in Austria, was investigated.

Methods

The skeletal remains of 128 Avars were examined; age and gender were estimated by standard forensic methods and tooth loss and root caries were recorded. Periodontitis was assessed by (a) measurement of the alveolar bone levels (ABL) and (b) evaluation of the interdental septa.

Results

A mean ABL of 4.8 mm was determined, root caries tended to accumulate in teeth with a higher alveolar bone loss, and on average, 6.2 teeth were lost antemortem. Independent of the diagnostic method >90% of the subjects were judged as periodontally diseased, and age and tooth type were significant predictors. However, on the tooth level the presence of periodontitis varied considerably depending on the diagnostic method; that is, 7.6% versus 47.2% of the teeth were judged as healthy based on ABL or interdental septa, respectively.

Conclusion

The periodontal status of the skeletal remains of medieval Avars revealed a considerable high prevalence of periodontitis (ie, >90% of this population displayed periodontal tissue breakdown). However, the diagnostic method, disease definition, and data presentation should be considered when comparing results of archaeological material.

Oral Health Knowledge and Behavior among Adults in the United Arab Emirates

Background

The prevalence of periodontal diseases is increasing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite a worldwide decline in the prevalence of dental caries among children and adolescents. The aims of this study were to determine the levels of oral health knowledge and health-related behavior in adult UAE residents, and the relationship between these variables and oral health.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional survey with nonprobability sampling was used in this study. A sample of 630 adults residing in the UAE completed an oral health survey to assess their oral health knowledge and behavior. Mean oral health knowledge and behavior scores were calculated and correlated with population demographic and behavioral variables.

Results

Participants were found to have an acceptable oral health knowledge score (OHKS) of 10.50 (2.36) where 62 % of participants answered the questions correctly. Results showed that age, gender, nationality, smoking, and physical activity were significantly associated with the knowledge score. However, only gender, nationality, and smoking predicted oral health knowledge scores after further regression analysis. On the other hand, the mean oral health behavior score (OHBS) for all participants was 8.91 (2.29); 98% of all participants practiced at least an acceptable level of oral behavior and 53% practiced a good to perfect level. Age, gender, educational level, employment status, insurance status, marital status, nationality, smoking, and physical activity showed significant statistical association with the score of behaviors related to oral health. Only gender, number of diabetes sessions attended, and health information sources used remained significant after further regression analysis.

Conclusion

Further efforts are required to spread awareness about oral health and encourage the UAE population to develop healthy oral habits. Such programs will decrease the occurrence and burden of many chronic oral diseases especially periodontal diseases.

Hunter-gatherer dental pathology: Do historic accounts of Aboriginal Australians correspond to the archeological record of dental disease?

OBJECTIVES

Studies of hunter-gatherer oral pathology, particularly in Australia, often focus upon dental wear and caries or assume that historic studies of Aboriginal people reflect the precontact past. Consequently the range of population variation has been underestimated. In this paper dental pathology from human remains from Roonka are compared with a model of dental pathology derived from historic studies. The aim is to identify aspects of dental pathology indicative of regional or intra-population diversity.

METHODS

Adult dentitions (n = 115) dating from the mid to late Holocene were recorded for the following conditions: dental wear, caries, periapical voids, calculus, periodontal disease and antemortem tooth loss. Statistical analysis was used to identify patterns of dental pathology and to identify causal relationships between conditions.

RESULTS

Dental wear is marked while dental caries rates are extremely low. Other indications of dental pathology are uncommon (<7% of teeth affected). Temporal heterogeneity is apparent: there are 3 young adults with caries who died in the postcontact period. There is also a small group of middle age to old adults with disproportionate abscessing and pulp exposure who may represent temporal variation or heterogeneity in individual frailty.

CONCLUSIONS

The results confirm dental wear as the major cause of dental pathology in this group and that, at a general level, historic accounts do correspond with this archeological sample. However, intra-sample heterogeneity is apparent while 2 dental conditions, calculus and periodontal disease, along with the pattern of sex differences deviate from expectation, demonstrating that to identify regional variation attention needs to be paid to the dentoalveolar complex as a whole.

Dental wear and age grading at Roonka, South Australia

OBJECTIVES

In many hunter-gatherer populations, the teeth are used as a third hand or a tool. Much attention has been paid to wear and its relationship to gendered division of labor, but age is also a significant organizing factor in many societies. In this article, I analyze whether the pattern of wear at Roonka, Australia, reflects the age-graded acquisition of tasks.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The remains analyzed come from Roonka and date from c6000 BP to 150 BP. In total 126 adults and juveniles were analyzed. Wear gradients were calculated for each tooth relative to wear on the first molar. Data were compared using nonparametric statistics and cluster analysis to assess the degree of patterning within the sample.

RESULTS

Dental wear proceeded rapidly. There is no evidence of sex differences in the pattern of wear. Age differences do occur. While disproportionate anterior wear occurs among juveniles and young adults, by middle adulthood the pattern is less variable and involves the premolars. Old adults have a much flatter pattern of wear.

DISCUSSION

The pattern of wear is consistent with ethnographic observations, which suggest a degree of latitude in the activities of juveniles and young adults. By middle age variability between individuals declines reflecting shared tasks and more intensive use of the teeth. The pattern of wear amongst old adults, however, is much flatter presumably due to changes in occlusion. While dental wear is informative about the organization of labor there is a need to take into account both patterns of activity and occlusion.