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Wasterlain SN, Rufino AI, Ferreira MT. Dental disease in a 15th-17th centuries skeletal sample of enslaved Africans (Lagos, Portugal). Arch Oral Biol 2024; 165:106015. [PMID: 38838514 DOI: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2024.106015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Dental disease is frequently used as a proxy for diet and overall health of individuals of past populations. The aim of this study is to investigate dental disease in a sample of enslaved African individuals recovered from an urban dump (15th-17th centuries) in Lagos, Portugal. DESIGN In all, 81 African individuals (>12 years old) were analysed (19 males, 49 females, and 13 of unknown sex), in a total of 2283 alveoli, 2061 teeth, and 2213 interdental septa. Analysed oral pathologies include dental caries, periodontal disease, and ante-mortem tooth loss. Dental wear was also recorded. RESULTS Dental caries affected 52.0 % of the teeth, although only 31.9 % were cavitated lesions. In all, 96.3 % of the individuals presented at least one cariogenic lesion. Gingivitis and periodontitis were recorded in 56.7 % and 19.0 % of the septa, respectively. Only one male individual had all septal areas healthy. Ante-mortem tooth loss was recorded in 38.3 % of the individuals, in a total of 96 teeth lost (4.2 %). Regarding occlusal wear, 70.8 % of the surfaces were recorded with grades 1-3. CONCLUSIONS The frequencies of the oral pathological conditions observed may not only reflect a cariogenic diet (rich in starches and with a high frequency of meals) but also the conditions during the maritime voyage of the first victims of the North Atlantic slave trade (xerostomia due to lack of water, sea sickness and vomiting, vitamin C deficiency, poor hygiene), and also the impact intentional dental modifications had on the dentitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia N Wasterlain
- University of Coimbra, Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - Ana I Rufino
- University of Coimbra, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Maria Teresa Ferreira
- University of Coimbra, Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
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Crubézy E, Duchesne S, Razafindrazaka H, Romanova L, Gérard P, Alcouffe A, Esclassan R, Melnichuk O, Ushnitsky I, Ludes B, Telmon N, Tegel W, Dabernat H, Zvenigorosky V, Prados-Frutos JC. Sucrose Is Not the Whole Story: Risk Factors and Oral Health at the Contact (Yakutia, Siberia-16th/19th). BIOLOGY 2021; 10:biology10100974. [PMID: 34681073 PMCID: PMC8533550 DOI: 10.3390/biology10100974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary We have studied the dental epidemiology of 96 frozen bodies from north-eastern Siberia (Yakuts) before and after the contact—with an accurate chronology–between Autochthonous and European populations. The peculiarities of the Yakut population are the rarity of cavities and the relative frequency of dental pathologies leading to death. Dental health evolves only two centuries after the contact; assimilation into the Russian Orthodox culture has decreased tooth wear and increased tooth loss. A comparison with historical data suggests that this evolution is not linked to the increasing importance of sucrose, but to the combined action of the substitution of dendrophagia with cereal flour; a decrease in immunity associated with the development of chronic infectious diseases; smoking as well as the mandibular torus: a risk factor favoring apical cysts. Abstract (1) Background: contact between indigenous and European populations has often resulted in changes in oral health attributed to the introduction of sucrose. Most studies are per tooth over considerable periods and with few ethnological references. (2) Aim: dental epidemiology of 96 autochthonous frozen bodies from Yakutia between the early 17th century and the late 19th century; comparisons with historical texts and ethnographic data. (3) Material and methods: we use descriptive statistics and discriminant factorial analyses to identify dominant variables in the dataset and compare periods and subjects, considering all variables. (4) Results: the peculiarities of the population are the rarity of cavities and the relative frequency of dental pathologies leading to death. Assimilation into the Russian Orthodox culture has led to decreased tooth wear and an increase in tooth loss. Dental health evolves only two centuries after the contact. (5) Conclusions: the confrontation with historical data suggests that changes are not related to the growing importance of sucrose but to a combined action: the substitution of dendrophagy by cereal flour; the decrease in immunity linked to the development of chronic infectious diseases; tobacco addiction and the mandibular torus: a risk factor promoting apical cysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Crubézy
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
- Correspondence: (E.C.); (J.C.P.-F.)
| | - Sylvie Duchesne
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP), 13 Rue du Négoce, 31650 Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, France
| | | | - Liubomira Romanova
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
- Institute of Modern Languages and Regional Studies, North-Eastern Federal University, 58 Belinskogo Street, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia
| | - Patrice Gérard
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
| | - Ameline Alcouffe
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
| | - Rémi Esclassan
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
| | - Olga Melnichuk
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
- Institute of Modern Languages and Regional Studies, North-Eastern Federal University, 58 Belinskogo Street, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia
| | - Innokenty Ushnitsky
- Medical Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University, Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 58 Belinskogo Street, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia;
| | - Bertrand Ludes
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
- BABEL, CNRS UMR 2029, Université Paris V Descartes, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Norbert Telmon
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
| | - Willy Tegel
- Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Albert-Ludwigs Universität, 79098 Freiburg, Germany;
| | - Henri Dabernat
- Centre d’Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France; (S.D.); (P.G.); (A.A.); (R.E.); (N.T.); (H.D.)
| | - Vincent Zvenigorosky
- Laboratoire International Associé CNRS/Fédération de Russie COSIE, 31073 Toulouse, France; (L.R.); (O.M.); (B.L.); (V.Z.)
- BABEL, CNRS UMR 2029, Université Paris V Descartes, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Juan Carlos Prados-Frutos
- Department of Medical Specialties and Public Health (Forensic and Legal Medicine Area), Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Avenida de Atenas s/n, 28933 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: (E.C.); (J.C.P.-F.)
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