Prevalence of dental caries and tooth wear in a Neolithic population (6700-5600 years BP) from northern China

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence, distribution and intensity of dental caries as well as tooth wear in Neolithic population of northern China to increase our knowledge about the type of food, dietary habit and social stratification in this Neolithic population.

Materials and methods: The samples analysed were dental remains of 1007 permanent teeth from 79 adult individuals, who were excavated from three Yangshao archaeological sites in the Xi'an district and adjacent Counties (northern China). The sex and the age-at-death of the samples were estimated.

Results: The frequency of antemortem tooth loss in the samples was 1.6%. The proportion of individuals with at least one carious tooth reached 41.8%, and the frequency of carious lesion was 5.7%. The most frequent carious lesions were occlusal lesions (4.4%), followed by interproximal (1.4%) and buccal/lingual lesions (0.4%). All 79 individuals were affected by attrition (100%) with various degrees of dental wear observed. The anterior teeth were much more worn than the posterior ones. The frequency of caries in men (3.9%) was significantly lower than that in women (8.1%), but the prevalence of tooth wear in men (99.0%) was significantly higher than that in women (95.2%).

Conclusions: These findings indicate that both caries and tooth wear may be related to the subsistence and diet of this Neolithic population.