Dental caries, tooth wear and diet in an adult medieval (12th–14th century) population from mediterranean France

ObjectivesThe aims of the present work were to determine the frequency and distribution of caries and tooth wear on paired maxillae of a mediaeval sample from southwest France in which the sex of the remains had been established, and to make a relation with the diet of this population.Materials and methodsThe sample analysed consisted of the dental remains of 58 adult individuals (29 men and 29 women) excavated from the mediaeval cemetery of the archaeological site of Vilarnau d’Amont (southwest France). A total of 1395 teeth were examined.ResultsThe frequency of ante-mortem tooth loss for the sample was 8.7% and the frequency of caries was 17.5%. The frequencies of carious lesions in adult men and women’s dentition were 21.9% and 14.0%. The most frequent were occlusal (49.7% and 34.3%) and approximal caries (26.5% and 37.4%). Concerning tooth wear, all 58 individuals were affected by attrition (100%) and more than 90% of the teeth were concerned. Most of them showed the presence of dentin clusters. There was no significant difference between men and women for caries and tooth wear.DiscussionThese findings are similar to those of other studies on European populations of the same socio-economic status and confirm the predominance of tooth wear over carious lesions during this period. Both caries and tooth wear may be related to the regional diet of this rural population.