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Alveolar bone loss on neolithic man remains on 38 skulls of Khirokitia's (Cyprus) inhabitants
Author(s) -
Mitsis Fotis J.,
Taramidis George
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of clinical periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.456
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1600-051X
pISSN - 0303-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-051x.1995.tb00262.x
Subject(s) - prehistory , dental alveolus , periodontal disease , dentistry , tooth loss , civilization , archaeology , geography , medicine , oral health
3S skulls, belonging to inhabitants of various age groups of the Neolithic settlement of Khirokitia in Cyprus (5800–3000 BC) were studied and the alveolar bone loss was evaluated in areas where teeth still existed. It was found that the alveolar bone loss increased with age. The differences deriving from the comparison of skulls belonging to older people (the mean life‐span of the inhabitants was 35.2 years), with skulls belonging to younger people suggest that our findings are not due to post‐mortem weathering of bones through the centuries but represent a real fact. The results of this study indicate that periodontal disease has accompanied human beings since prehistoric time without being affected by civilization.