The sugar has nothing to do with it: our ancient ancestors had the same problems with their teeth

Tooth decay is one of the major problems related to teeth, in the modern world. Sodas, fruit juices, wine and other acidic foods often become the main accused, and then goes our wrong teeth brushing. Familiar, huh? And here the scientists came to the conclusion that people were suffering from tooth decay millions of years. Yang Toui, an anthropologist at John Moores University in Liverpool, along with colleagues discovered the damage that is strikingly similar to the damage characteristic of our epoch, on the two front teeth of one of our ancient ancestors by the age of 2.5 million years. Apparently prehistoric people and their predecessors have experienced strikingly similar to our own dental problems despite our very different diets.

Dental erosion can affect all the dental tissues, and usually leaves a small shiny damage to the enamel and the root surface. If you are too violently brush and floss your teeth, you can damage the tooth tissue that will eventually allow acid food and drinks to form deep holes, known as non-carious cervical lesions.

Scientists have discovered such damage on the fossilized teeth of a human ancestor — Australopithecus africanus. Given the size and position of damage, this particular individual was probably a toothache or over-sensitivity. Where did prehistoric man, problems with the teeth that are indistinguishable from our own, supposedly caused by large amounts of absorbed pop?

The Answer may lead to other strange Parallels. Abrasive wear of the teeth today is also often associated with aggressive cleaning. Australopitecus africanus was probably experienced similar destruction from eating hard and fibrous foods. For formation damage, you still need a diet rich in acidic food. Instead of carbonated drinks that, most likely, was citrus fruits and acidic vegetables. Roots (potatoes and similar) is hard to eat, and some varieties can be surprisingly sour, so they could also be the cause of destruction.

Erosion of the enamel of the teeth are very rarely seen in fossil records, but this may be due to the fact that scientists did not think to look for her ... until now. Was often detected another problem, carious hole, or cavity.

Dental cavities are the most common cause of a toothache today and appear due to the consumption of starchy or sugary foods and drinks. This problem is considered to be relatively modern and associated with the fact that the invention of agriculture has given access to a huge amount of carbohydrates, and then and refined sugars.

Recent studies show that it is not. Cavities were found in fossilized teeth from the very first period of the existence of prehistoric people. They were formed, in all probability, to the consumption of certain fruits and vegetables, and honey. Often fracture teeth were quite abundant, as, for example, the recently discovered Homo naledi. These cavities was so deep that probably formed over several years and was causing terrible toothaches.

Abrasion enamel

Another example of the wear of enamel is also quite prominently represented in the list of fossils, and again we can only guess how and why he came from the ancient people by studying the teeth of modern humans. It is the process of tooth erosion, which is caused by repetitive friction or holding a hard object in his mouth. This may be due to biting nails, Smoking a pipe or holding a sewing needle between his teeth. Typically, these processes leave traces in the years, so when we find such holes in a petrified teeth, we have the opportunity to throw a unique perspective on behavior and culture.

The Best examples of this prehistoric deterioration of the teeth are "depression for toothpicks", which are believed to have formed by repeated placement of an object in the mouth, usually between the back teeth. The presence of microscopic scratches around these grooves suggests that they are examples of prehistoric oral health when a person used a stick or other implements to displace food. Some of these grooves occur on the same teeth, where they met cavities and other problems, which suggests that they can also talk about the attempt of the people to reduce your toothache.

These lesions were detected in different species of hominids, including prehistoric humans and Neanderthals, but only in the species most closely related to us, and not our older ancestors. This may mean that the tooth wear is the result of more complex behavior of species with large brains. But it is more likely that this is a consequence of different diets and cultural habits.

We Now know that complex and serious dental problems that we often associate with a modern diet and processed foods, actually existed a long time ago, albeit not so pronounced.