Dental caries prevalence of medieval Korean people

Dental Calculi of Siberian Natives, Russian Settlers, and Korean People of Joseon Dynasty Period in the 16th to 19th Century Eurasia Continent

Objective

The prevalence of calculus is known to be variable by difference in diets or subsistence strategy between human populations. However, this situation has not been confirmed so far for hunter-gatherers and farming people in terms of history. In this study, we tried to reveal the association of diets or subsistence with calculus in different historical populations: Siberian natives, Joseon period Korean people, and Russian settlers in Siberia.

Design

We examined the teeth of Siberian natives (hunter-gatherers), Russian (wheat farming) settlers, and Joseon (rice farming) people in sixteenth to nineteenth century. Age and sex were estimated using the methods of Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994). We examined specimens to detect signs of calculus formation in teeth. Calculus rates in each group were statistically compared, and the proportions of calculus by age or sex were also compared across each group. We used package R for statistical analysis. Results and Discussion. The prevalence of calculus deposition decreased in the order of Joseon people, Russian settlers, and Siberian natives. Our study proposes that the rate of calculi among farming people was evidently higher than that of hunter-gatherers in sixteenth to nineteenth century Eurasia. In all three groups, calculus prevalence became higher as age increases and was noteworthy in males.

Conclusion

Current study demonstrated a significant difference of calculus formation between those groups with different diets or subsistence strategies. Higher prevalence of dental calculus was observed in agriculturalist Joseon Koreans and Russian settlers, but Siberian natives exhibited relatively lower frequency of dental calculus. The results of this study enable us to reconsider the meaning of association between subsistence strategy and calculus in different historical populations.

Caries, antemortem tooth loss and tooth wear observed in indigenous peoples and Russian settlers of 16th to 19th century West Siberia

OBJECTIVE

Increased prevalence of dental caries evidently is correlated with increasing intake of sugar and carbohydrate-rich foods. Preceding and accompanying this dietary alteration might have been a shift from a hunting-and-gathering subsistence strategy to one based on agriculture. We corroborated this conjecture by means of a study on the prevalence of caries, antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) and tooth wear among 16th to 19th century hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists who co-existed in West Siberia.

DESIGN

Indigenous skeletons (n = 75) exhumed from Tatar, Selkup, Khant, and Nenet graves along with Russian settler skeletons (n = 79) from Izyuk were examined. The prevalence of caries, AMTL and tooth wear among the indigenous peoples were compared with those among the Russian settlers. The resulting statistical inferences were tested using package R.

RESULTS

The agriculturalist Russian settlers showed a significantly higher prevalence of dental caries (11.88%) than did the non-agriculturalist indigenous Siberian people (3.85%). Among the latter, the prevalence was the lowest in the Khanty and the highest in the Tatars, suggesting that caries differently affected each sub-group of indigenous Siberian people. Correspondingly to the case of dental caries, the Russian settlers' AMTL prevalence also was higher than that of the indigenous Siberians, regardless of age. On the other hand, the native Siberians and the Russian settlers did not show statistical differences in tooth wear.

CONCLUSION

In the study on 16th to 19th century West Siberian populations, we were able to corroborate our presumption that agriculturalists ingesting a carbohydrate-rich diet would have higher rates of dental caries and AMTL than would hunter-gatherers.

The Use and Effectiveness of Triple Multiplex System for Coding Region Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Mitochondrial DNA Typing of Archaeologically Obtained Human Skeletons from Premodern Joseon Tombs of Korea

Previous study showed that East Asian mtDNA haplogroups, especially those of Koreans, could be successfully assigned by the coupled use of analyses on coding region SNP markers and control region mutation motifs. In this study, we tried to see if the same triple multiplex analysis for coding regions SNPs could be also applicable to ancient samples from East Asia as the complementation for sequence analysis of mtDNA control region. By the study on Joseon skeleton samples, we know that mtDNA haplogroup determined by coding region SNP markers successfully falls within the same haplogroup that sequence analysis on control region can assign. Considering that ancient samples in previous studies make no small number of errors in control region mtDNA sequencing, coding region SNP analysis can be used as good complimentary to the conventional haplogroup determination, especially of archaeological human bone samples buried underground over long periods.

Stable isotope analysis of Joseon people skeletons from the cemeteries of Old Seoul City, the capital of Joseon Dynasty

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis reveals the diets of different human populations in history. In this study, we performed stable isotope analysis on human skeletons from Joseon-period cemeteries discovered around Old Seoul City (Hansung). Our data clearly showed that Joseon individuals consumed more C₃-based than C₄-based foods as the main staples, and that the proteins they ate were mainly of terrestrial, but not of marine origin. Stable isotope values exhibited unique patterns in each of our sample subgroups. Whereas the δ¹³C values did not show any statistical differences among the subgroups, significantly higher values of δ¹⁵N were found in males than in females, which might reflect dietary differences between the sexes. For a fuller understanding of the dietary patterns of pre-industrial (pre-20th century) Koreans, additional studies on Joseon samples from Korean archaeological sites will be necessary.

The prevalence and distribution of dental caries in four early medieval non-adult populations of different socioeconomic status from Central Europe

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to map the dental health status in non-adult individuals and to verify whether and how the existence of caries in the non-adult age group is associated with the different socio-economic status of early medieval populations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied the dental remains from the acropolis of the Mikulčice settlement agglomeration, where members of the higher social classes were buried, and from the Mikulčice hinterland. Overall, we evaluated 2544 teeth/3714 alveoli of deciduous dentition and 1938 teeth/2128 alveoli of permanent dentition. We determined the number of individuals with dental caries (i.e., caries frequency index, F-CE) and the proportion of teeth/alveoli with caries/ante-mortem tooth loss (i.e., caries intensity index, I-CE).

RESULTS

We found no statistical significant difference in the F-CE values between the Mikulčice hinterland and the acropolis. In addition, we found no statistically significant difference in the proportion of teeth with carious lesions (I-CE) either in the case of deciduous dentition or in the case of permanent dentition between the hinterland and the acropolis. In the case of permanent dentition, the statistically significant highest proportion of carious lesions (I-CE) was found in Mikulčice I (p ≤ 0.05). We confirmed an increase in the rate of caries with age.

CONCLUSIONS

The level of caries at all of the studied medieval locations was very low. We presume that lifestyle and the associated dietary habits and hygienic practices of the individuals or population groups had a greater influence on dental caries than did the socio-economic status of these individuals.

The frequency and distribution of caries among the Iron Age population (about 2200 years BP) buried in the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence, distribution, and intensity of dental caries in the Iron Age population of northern China in order to increase knowledge about the type of food, dietary habit, and social stratification in this Iron Age people.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The samples analyzed were dental remains of 1548 permanent teeth from 69 male individuals unearthed from the Qin archaeological site of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum in Lintong (northern China). The sex and the age-at-death of the samples were estimated.

RESULTS

Overall frequency of antemortem tooth loss in the samples was 0.8%. The proportion of individuals with at least one carious tooth was 65.2%, and the frequency of carious lesions was 9.4%, both showing a trend to rise as age increased. Data obtained on dental caries and antemortem tooth loss provided a corrected rate of 9.5% of teeth with caries. The most frequent carious lesions were occlusal lesions (2.6%), followed by interproximal (2.5%) and buccal/lingual lesions (1.0%). Tooth type analysis showed that molars had the highest percentage of caries (18.6%), followed by premolars (4.5%), canines (3.0%), and incisors (3.0%). The total SRCI was 1.6, increasing with age.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that dental caries may be related, at least in part, to the subsistence and diet of this Iron Age population.

Long bone fractures identified in the Joseon Dynasty human skeletons of Korea

Fracture is one of the pathological signs most frequently encountered in archaeologically obtained bones. To expand the paleopathological knowledge on traumatic injuries, it is desirable to secure data on long bone fractures from as wide a geographic and temporal range as possible. We present, for the first time, evidence of long bone fractures in a 16th-18th century Joseon skeletal series (n=96). In this study, we found 3 Colles' fractures of the radius in 2 individual cases. The pattern of fractures was unique. Although previous reports show that the ulna is broken more often than the radius, ulnar fracture associated with fending off a blunt attack was rare in our series (1/7 cases). Transverse fractures, typically caused by intentional violence, were also very rare (1/7 cases) in this study. These results may reflect the relatively tranquil lives of the Joseon people in 16th-18th century Korea. We also found post-fracture complications such as deformations, bone length shortening, and osteomyelitis. The present study would be of interest to medical scientists in related fields because it is one of the few studies conducted on long bone fractures among pre-modern societies in East Asian countries, thus far.

Anti-biofilm activity of Salvadora persica on cariogenic isolates of Streptococcus mutans: in vitro and molecular docking studies

Salvadora persica sticks are used for chewing and oral-hygiene measures worldwide. The growth inhibition and anti-biofilm effects of various extracts on cariogenic Streptococcus mutans isolates were evaluated. Biofilm inhibition, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses for phytochemicals and their possible mode of interaction with biofilm response regulators were revealed using LigandFit docking protocols. All S. persica extracts showed considerable inhibitory activity and the cariogenic S. mutans showed varied susceptibility when compared with controls. The percentage reduction in biofilm inhibition obtained for methanol, ethanol, chloroform, acetone, and aqueous extracts were 87.92%, 85.75%, 72.44%, 61.66% and 58.68%, respectively. GC-MS analyses revealed >28 compounds, of which benzyl (6Z,9Z,12Z)-6,9,12-octadecatrienoate, 3-benzyloxy-1-nitro-butan-2-ol and 1,3-cyclohexane dicarbohydrazide interacted efficiently with the bacterial communication quorum-sensing (QS) regulators Streptococcus OmpP and Staphylococcus Lux proteins. The bioactive, dual-function, anti-biofilm agents in S. persica not only inhibit growth, but also control the colonization and accumulation of caries-causing S. mutans.

Frequency of dental caries in four historical populations from the chalcolithic to the middle ages

The majority of dental carie studies over the course of historical period underline mainly the prevalence evolution, the role of carbohydrates consumption and the impact of access to dietary resources. The purpose of the present investigation was to compare population samples from two archaeological periods the Chacolithic and Middle Age taking into account the geographical and socio economical situation. The study concerned four archaelogical sites in south west France and population samples an inlander for the Chalcolithic Age, an inlander, an costal and urban for the Middle Age. The materials studied included a total of 127 maxillaries, 103 mandibles and 3316 teeth. Data recorded allowed us to display that the Chalcolithic population sample had the lowest carie percentage and the rural inlander population samples of Middle Age the highest; in all cases molars were teeth most often affected. These ones differences could be explained according to time period, carious lesions were usually less recorded in the Chalcolithic Age than the Middle because of a lesser cultivation of cereals like in les Treilles Chacolithic population sample. In the Middle Age population samples, the rural inland sample Marsan showed the highest frequency of caries and ate more cereal than the coastal Vilarnau and the poor urban St Michel population samples, the first one ate fish and Mediterranean vegetal and fruits and the second one met difficulties to food access, in both cases the consumption of carbohydrates was lesser than Marsan population sample who lived in a geographical land convice to cereals cultivation.