Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

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Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by Winged Isis »

Fascinating to archaeology lovers. Not in Egypt, but there is a connection...

Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax
September 20, 2012 - 7:00AM

AUSTRALIAN scientists have helped date what may be the world's oldest dental filling – in a tooth crowned with beeswax in a 6500-year-old human jaw.

The portion of lower jaw, which was uncovered in a cave wall in northern Slovenia – an area rich in archaeological sites – bears two premolars, two first molars and a cracked canine filled with beeswax.

The thickness and size of the specimen suggests it belonged to a male, while the degree of wear on the teeth points to an owner aged in their late 20s.


The jaw bones discovered in Slovenia. Photo: Bernardini/Tuniz/Coppa/Mancini/D
An international team, including scientists from the University of Wollongong and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, used a range of sophisticated analytical technologies in laboratories around the world to date the teeth and the beeswax, as well as sample the filling and bone.


Radio carbon dating suggests the teeth's owner lived sometime during the New Stone Age, between 6440 and 6650 years ago.

Detailed CT images of the canine tooth reveal the deep crack exposed the tooth's dentine, the calcified tissue that sits below the enamel.

The exposed tissue and chewing on a cracked tooth probably made it highly sensitive, and could have affected the function of the jaw, the researchers said.

"The occlusal surface could have been filled with beeswax in an attempt to reduce the pain sealing exposed dentine tubules," they said.

While the specimen is the first known beeswax dental filling, historians have suspected early human societies used the bee products for some time.

The ancient Egyptian medical papyrus, known as the Ebers Papyrus, which date back to the 16th century BC, document the use of honey mixed with mineral ingredients to fix loose teeth or reduce pain.

While the team suspect the tooth was filled with beeswax while the person was alive, they acknowledge it could have been filled after death. "Such a postmortem intervention could be related to secondary burial practices," the researchers, whose findings were published in the online journal PLoS One, said.

The specimen has been held in the Natural History Museum of Trieste in Italy since it was discovered.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/need-a-fill ... z26xF3pDJQ


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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by Horus »

Interesting, I am sure I have read somewhere how they used some sort of poo as a cure for toothache :stp
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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Well I don't know about any 'poo' treatments but really interesting about the beeswax. It has always fascinated me to watch archiological finds. Love hearing about stone age man.
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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by Ra-Mont »

What an amazing discovery. Our ancestors do keep the surprises coming.
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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I wonder how ancient man managed to aquire the beeswax. I highly doubt the bees welcomed them any more than bees welcome us today but, at least, today beekeepers have suits that can stop the bees from getting close to the skin and stinging. Wonder if ancient man knew the advantages of smoke and it's sedative effect on bees? And even if they did wonder how they managed to direct the smoke to calm the bees?

I'm a wimp when it comes to dental stuff. I can't even imagine the pain ancient man went through if they got a toothache. It must've been horrendous - soooo - I guess getting a few bee stings kinda paled by comparison to the grinding sharp aching pain of a dental caries.
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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by Winged Isis »

Many of our native bee species are stingless, unlike the imported European Honey Bee. Maybe some ancient bees were stingless too.
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Re: Need a filling? Stone Age dentists knew their beeswax

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

ReallY? Stingless bees? WOWWWWWW............they sure 'sting' here! I'm not quite allergic in that I don't (or at least have not yet) gone into anaphalactic shock but it can take me 2 to 3 weeks to get over a bee sting.

The bees here have been becoming more and more aggressive over the years here too. I personally wonder if they're not cross breeding or interbreeding with the African bees that are highly aggressive.

Approximately a month ago my next door neighbour who is in her early 70ies was out in the front garden. She isn't sure if she actually stepped on a nest or what but suddenly she was swarmed and stung about a dozen times. She ended up in the ER, within a hair of being admitted for an overnight if her daughter hadn't been able to come and stay with her. My neighbour said this was one of the worst and most painful experiences she ever went through. First her son in law came and tried to spray the hive (it was in the rock wall between our houses) but she ended up having to have an exterminator come and remove them. It wasn't even a big colony but she was really hurt by this attack.

I didn't hear about it 'til after the fact when her son in law came over to tell me about the approximately location of the hive and his efforts to get rid of it. I know what getting stung ONCE does to me so I was more than happy to say well away 'til the hive was gone.

I have no idea what to look for re: bee hives or hornet/wasp hives. Sometimes you can SEE the mud nests but if they're making a nest or hive IN the ground - ouch and yikes!!

Hopefully ancient man didn't have to put up with this level of aggressive bee but maybe getting a few stings was worth decreasing the pain of a toothache. Not sure which pain would be worse.
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