Caglar E, Kuscu O O, Sandalli N, Ari I
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Yeditepe University, Bagdat cad 238, Goztepe, 34728 Istanbul, Turkey.
Arch Oral Biol. 2007 Dec;52(12):1136-45. doi: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2007.05.010. Epub 2007 Jul 20.
Dental caries and wear are important conditions to record in archaeological collections. Reconstruction of the life of ancient peoples can be accomplished by studying their dental remains. The aim of the present paper was to determine the frequency, distribution, and characteristics of dental caries, dental wear and related diet in the mediaeval Byzantine population of Iznik in northwest Turkey. The analysed sample consisted of the dental remains of 56 individuals with the total of 280 teeth. The majority (261 or 93.2%) of the teeth belonged to the permanent dentition. The frequency of antemortem tooth loss in the sample was 6.5% and the frequency of caries was 6.8%. The most frequent recorded caries were mesial (3.3%), followed by buccal (3%). The frequency of dental wear was rather high (84.2%) exhibiting presence of dentin clusters mostly. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis of caries attrition competition based on the assumption that a beneficial effect of tooth wear is to avoid development of caries. High wear in the archaeological population can be linked to the fact that the cumulative effects of attrition as a result of the Byzantine diet.
龋齿和牙齿磨损是考古藏品中需要记录的重要情况。通过研究古代人群的牙齿遗骸可以重构他们的生活。本文的目的是确定土耳其西北部伊兹尼克中世纪拜占庭人群中龋齿、牙齿磨损及相关饮食的频率、分布和特征。分析样本由56个人的牙齿遗骸组成，共计280颗牙齿。大多数（261颗或93.2%）牙齿属于恒牙列。样本中生前牙齿脱落的频率为6.5%，龋齿频率为6.8%。记录到的最常见龋齿是近中龋（3.3%），其次是颊面龋（3%）。牙齿磨损的频率相当高（84.2%），主要表现为牙本质簇的存在。这一发现与基于牙齿磨损有益作用是避免龋齿发生这一假设的龋齿磨耗竞争假说相一致。考古人群中的高磨损可能与拜占庭饮食导致的磨耗累积效应这一事实有关。
