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WASHINGTON
- Proving prehistoric man’s
ingenuity and ability to withstand
and inflict excruciating pain,
researchers have found that
dental drilling dates back 9,000
years.
Primitive
dentists drilled nearly perfect
holes into live but undoubtedly
unhappy patients between 5500
B.C. and 7000 B.C., an article
in Thursday’s issue of the journal
Nature reports. Researchers
carbon-dated at least nine skulls
with 11 drill holes found in
a Pakistan graveyard.
That
means dentistry is at least
4,000 years older than first
thought — and far older than
the useful invention of anesthesia.
This
was no mere tooth tinkering.
The drilled teeth found in the
graveyard were hard-to-reach
molars. And in at least one
instance, the ancient dentist
managed to drill a hole in the
inside back end of a tooth,
boring out toward the front
of the mouth.
The
holes went as deep as one-seventh
of an inch (3.5 millimeters).
“The
holes were so perfect, so nice,”
said study co-author David Frayer,
an anthropology professor at
the University of Kansas. “I
showed the pictures to my dentist
and he thought they were amazing
holes.”
Painful
for the patient
How
it was done is painful just
to think about. Researchers
figured that a small bow was
used to drive the flint drill
tips into patients’ teeth. Flint
drill heads were found on site.
So study lead author Roberto
Macchiarelli, an anthropology
professor at the University
of Poitiers, France, and colleagues
simulated the technique and
drilled through human (but no
longer attached) teeth in less
than a minute.
“Definitely
it had to be painful for the
patient,” Macchiarelli said.
Researchers
were impressed by how advanced
the society was in Pakistan’s
Baluchistan province. The drilling
occurred on ordinary men and
women.
The
dentistry, probably evolved
from intricate ornamental bead
drilling that was also done
by the society there, went on
for about 1,500 years until
about 5500 B.C., Macchiarelli
said. After that, there were
no signs of drilling.
Reducing
pain, or releasing ‘evil spirits’
Macchiarelli
and Frayer said the drilling
was likely done to reduce the
pain of cavities.
Macchiarelli
pointed to one unfortunate patient
who had a tooth drilled twice.
Another patient had three teeth
drilled. Four drilled teeth
showed signs of cavities. No
sign of fillings were found,
but there could have been an
asphaltlike substance inside,
he said.
Dr.
Richard Glenner, a Chicago dentist
and author of dental history
books, wouldn’t bite on the
idea that this was good dentistry.
The drilling could have been
decorative or to release “evil
spirits” more than fighting
tooth decay, he said, adding,
“Why did they do it? No one
will ever know.”
Macchiarelli
said the hard-to-see locations
of the drilled teeth in jaws
seem to rule out drilling for
decorative purposes. Frayer
said the prehistoric drillers’
skill is something modern-day
patients can use to lord over
their dentists.
“This
may be something to tell your
dentist: If these people 9,000
years ago could make a hole
this perfect in less than a
minute,” Frayer said, “what
are they doing?”
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