Observations of dental diseases among prehistoric populations of Hungary.

The incidence of dental disease among people in developing countries today raises questions about the variation in the oral health of prehistoric populations. Considering these questions, we offer observations describing several types of dental disease which occurred among certain prehistoric populations of Hungary. The dental remains of 162 individuals recovered from seven sites of the Neolithic, Copper, and Bronze Age periods were examined for evidence of caries, hypoplasia, and periodontal disease. Appropriate methods were used to describe and record these dental lesions. The incidence of dental caries was low by comparison to other prehistoric agriculturists except for two forms of root caries: cervical and cemental. These types accounted for 68% of all the carious teeth recorded. Enamel hypoplasia was also lower than expected, occurring on only 4% of the total number of teeth. Periodontal abscesses were rare but other milder forms of periodontal lesions were frequent. Alveolar bone resorption occurred in varying degrees and followed the expected age distribution. The few exceptions were children or adolescents whose crania had other lesions suggesting a mineral metabolic disturbance. The lower incidence of enamel caries is likely due to high fluoride ingestion which also may have influenced the expression of enamel hypoplasia. No clear population trends were seen in dental disease incidence except for cemental caries which were found among Copper and Bronze Age remains.