Clinical science Acta Medica Academica 2012;41(2):119-130 DOI: 10.5644/ama2006-124.45 Periodontal disease and dental caries from Krapina Neanderthal to contemporary man – skeletal studies Berislav Topić1, Hajrija Raščić-Konjhodžić2, Mojca Čižek Sajko3 1 Academy of Sciences and Arts Objective. The aim of this study was the quantification of alveolar of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo bone resorption as well as the number and percentage of teeth with Bosnia and Herzegovina dental caries. Materials and Methods. Four samples of jaws and sin- 2 Faculty of Stomatology, University gle teeth were studied from four time periods, i.e. from the Krapina of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Neanderthals (KN) who reportedly lived over 130,000 years ago, and Herzegovina groups of humans from the 1st, 10th and 20th centuries. Resorption of 3 Institute for Biostatistics and Medical the alveolar bone of the jaws was quantified by the tooth-cervical- Informatics, Faculty of Medicine height (TCH) index. Diagnosis of dental caries was made by inspec- Ljubljana, Slovenia tion and with a dental probe. TCH-index was calculated for a total of 1097 teeth from 135 jaws. Decay was calculated for a total of 3579 Corresponding author: teeth. Results. Resorptive changes of the alveolar bone in KN and 1st Berislav Topić century man were more pronounced on the vestibular surface than Academy of Sciences and Arts interdentally (p<0.05), while no significant difference could be con- of Bosnia and Herzegovina firmed for 10th and 20th century man (p=0.1). The number (percent- 71000 Sarajevo age) of decayed teeth was 0 (0%, n=281 teeth) in KN, 15 (1.7%; n=860 Bosnia and Herzegovina teeth) in 1st century, 24 (3.4%; n=697 teeth) in 10th century, and 207 [email protected] (11.9%, n=1741 teeth) in 20th century. Conclusion. On the basis of our Tel: + 387 33 560 700 results it may be postulated that in contemporary man in relation to Fax: + 387 33 560 703 KN, the accumulation of plaque pathogens in the interdental space is Received: 20 May 2011 substantially greater than on the vestibular side. These findings have Accepted: 9 February 2012 practical, educational and preventive value for oral hygiene improve- ment, especially of the interdental space, which should help decrease Copyright © 2012 by the prevalence of periodontal disease and dental caries, and improve Academy of Sciences and Arts oral as well as general health. of Bosnia and Herzegovina. E-mail for permission to publish: Key words: Periodontium, Alveolar resorption, Neanderthal, TCH- [email protected] index, Dental caries. Introduction medicine, not only because they can help us understand a biomedical problem of human The hominids are zoological groups who nature, but also because they are convenient had some characteristics of Homo sapiens. for investigation. Paleoanthropology and ar- Hillson (1) describes the family Hominidae cheology are fields of high interest for many (Table 1). branches of science, dentistry being no ex- Paleoanthropological and archeologi- ception, in fact dentistry has special interest cal materials have been frequently used in in mutual collaboration. A general survey 119 Acta Medica Academica 2012;41:119-130 Table 1 The family Hominidae (1) Species Sites Stratigraphic division Date ranges Australopithecines Ardipithecus ramidus East Africa Pliocene c. 4.4 Ma BP Australopithecus anamensis East Africa Pliocene 4.2-3.9 Ma BP Australopithecus afarensis East Africa Pliocene 3.75-2.8 Ma BP Australopithecus africanus South Africa Pliocene 3-2.5 Ma BP Paranthropus robustus South Africa Lower Pleistocene 1.8-1.5 Ma BP Paranthropus boisei East Africa Pliocene, Lower Pleistocene c. 2.6-1.2 Ma BP Hominines Homo habilis Africa (+ ?) Pliocene, Lower Pleistocene 2.2-1.6 Ma BP Asia 700-125 ka BP (1.9 Ma Homo erectus Middle Pleistocene (+ Africa earlier dates) BPm 1.6 Ma BP) Homo sapiens (archaic) Africa + Europe Middle Pleistocene 700-125 ka BP Homo sapiens (Neanderthal) Europe + West Asia Upper Pleistocene 100-35 ka BP Homo sapiens Upper Pleistocene Worldwide 90 ka BP, 50 ka BP - present (anatomically modern) + Holocene BP - years before present; Ma - millions of years; ka - thousands of years; Holocene - 10 ka BP – present; Pleistocene - 2 Ma-10ka BP; Pliocene - 5,1 Ma-2 Ma BP. of dental variability in human groups would groups of contemporary humans from the be incomplete without some consideration 1st, 10th and 20th centuries, and second, the of pathologic differences. These may reflect number and percentage of caries lesions on variations in the genetic, dietary, bacterio- all samples of teeth in these four groups was logic and physiologic aspects of man’s devel- diagnosed. opment. Two major problems in dentistry, i.e. periodontal disease and dental caries (de- Material and methods cay), can be thoroughly examined by use For alveolar bone resorption, all samples of paleoanthropological and archeological of jaws, except for KN, were subdivided materials. There are more literature data on into two age groups: 20-29 and >50 years. decay than on periodontal disease in the This grouping was not applicable in the KN past in the human race (2, 3). This is so be- group, as none of KN individuals was older cause caries lesions have been preserved on than 23 years at the time of death. skeletons from the very beginning of their occurrence, whereas the only evidence for Group 1 - KN periodontal disease is when the pathologic events involve the calcified periodontal The alveolar bone included 54 KN teeth, i.e. structure (alveolar bone and cementum). 10 teeth from three maxillae and 44 teeth In this study there were two aims: First, from six mandibles. Examples of a KN max- the loss of alveolar bone was assessed by the illa and a KN mandible are presented in Fig- tooth-cervical height index (TCH-index) ures 1 and 2. on the vestibular and interdental side of the The age of the KNs whose jaws were ex- alveolus (4) in Krapina Neanderthals (KN) amined was reported to be 14 – 23 years. who lived 130,000 years ago (5), and in Caries lesions included 281 teeth, 91 belong- 120 Berislav Topić et al.: Dental health from Neanderthals to Contemporary Man a b c Figure 1 Maxilla of Krapina Neanderthal (6, 7): a - occlusal aspect; b – vestibular aspect; c – radiographic image. a b c Figure 2 Mandible of Krapina Neanderthal No. 55 (6, 7): a – occlusal aspect; b - vestibular aspect; c – radiographic image. ing to the jaws, and 190 teeth were outside Caries lesions included 860 teeth which the jaws, as a single tooth. The age of the belonged to the 1st century jaws. KNs whose teeth were checked was 3 – 27 years. These jaws and teeth are in the pos- Group 3 – Contemporary humans from session of the Natural History Museum in the 10th century Zagreb, Croatia. The alveolar bones included teeth belonging to human skulls of the 10th century, also di- Group 2 – Contemporary humans from vided into subgroups according to age: the 1st century - 20-29 age subgroup of 8 skulls with 16 jaws and 135 teeth, and The alveolar bones included teeth belonging - >50 age subgroup of 6 skulls with 12 to human skulls from the 1st century, divided jaws and 60 teeth. into two subgroups according to age: Caries lesions included 697 teeth belong- - 20-29 age subgroup of 14 skulls with 28 ing to the 10th century jaws. jaws and 295 teeth, and The skulls from the 1st and 10th century - >50 age subgroup of 8 skulls with 16 belong to the National Museum in Sarajevo, jaws and 94 teeth. Bosnia and Herzegovina. 121 Acta Medica Academica 2012;41:119-130 A C B INCISOR D A BUCCAL HEIGHT B C INTER-DENTAL HEIGHT D D B * MOLAR C A a b Figure 3 Measurement of Tooth Cervical Height (TCH-index). (a) Vestibular TCH – mean distance between A (at alveolar crest) and B (at cementoenamel junction) per all teeth in the jaw; interdental TCH – mean distance be- tween C (at alveolar crest) and D (at cementoenamel junction) per all teeth in the jaw (figure from Davies et al. (4). Buccal height – vestibular height. (b) Measuring alveolar bone resorption with periodontal probe. Group 4 – Contemporary humans from defined as the mean distance from the ce- the 20th century mentoenamel junction to the alveolar crest measured per all teeth in the jaw (Figure 3). The alveolar bones included teeth belong- The measurement was done on two sides, th ing to human skulls from the 20 century, vestibular and interdental and expressed divided into two subgroups: in millimeters, with a precision of 0.5 mm. - 20-29 age subgroup of 13 skulls with 26 Diagnosis of caries lesion was done by in- jaws and 281 teeth, and spection and with a dental probe by a single - >50 age subgroup of 18 skulls with 36 evaluator. jaws and 178 teeth. Caries lesions included 1741 teeth be- Statistical analysis longing to the 20th century jaws. The skulls from the 20th century belong Data are presented as mean and standard to the Institute of Anatomy, School of Medi- deviation (SD) and as proportions if they cine, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and are nominal. Comparisons between mean Herzegovina. The age of the skulls from the vestibular and interdental TCH-index were 1st and 10th centuries was determined by the done using paired t-tests, while compari- Vallois method (8). This method is based sons of the mean TCH-index between study on measurements of the obliteration of the groups were done using unpaired t-tests or suture skulls. The resorption of the alveolar one-way analysis of variance. The relation bone was measured by the TCH-index ac- between the mean vestibular and interdental cording to Davies et al.