Ancient tooth enamel defects linked with premature death [ Dentistry.co.uk ]

Dentistry.co.uk ^ | 5th Feb 2010 | Evolutionary Anthropology

[SunkenCiv]

A study reveals ancient human teeth showing evidence that stressful events during early development are linked to shorter lifespans.

Anthropologist George Armelagos led a systematic review of defects in teeth enamel and early mortality.

He said: 'Prehistoric remains are providing strong, physical evidence that people who acquired tooth enamel defects while in the womb or early childhood tended to die earlier. During prehistory, the stresses of infectious disease, poor nutrition and psychological trauma were likely extreme. The teeth show the impact.'

His paper is the first summary of prehistoric evidence for the Barker hypothesis -- the idea that many adult diseases originate during foetal development and early childhood... The Barker hypothesis is named after epidemiologist David Barker, who during the 1980s began studying links between early infant health and later adult health.

Tooth enamel can give a particularly telling portrait of physiological events, since the enamel is secreted in a regular, ring-like fashion, starting from the second trimester of foetal development.

Disruptions in the formation of the enamel, which can be caused by disease, poor diet or psychological stress, show up as grooves on the tooth surface...

For the Evolutionary Biology paper, Armelagos led a review of the evidence from eight published studies, applying the lens of the Barker hypothesis to remains dating back as far as one million years.

One study of a group of Australopithecines from the South African Pleistocence showed a nearly 12-year decrease in mean life expectancy associated with early enamel defects.

In another striking example, remains from Dickson Mounds, Illinois, showed that individuals with teeth marked by early life stress lived 15.4 years fewer than those without the defects, says an EU release.

[SunkenCiv]

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[JoeProBono]

[SunkenCiv]

Tic Tac?

[Eye of Unk]

I thought dentists in England were banned, or burned at the stake. I swera almost every single person I have ever met including some very pretty English girls had major teeth problems.

[wildbill]

Probably this is propaganda research bought and paid for by the dwindling dental industry. [/sarcasm]

[gleeaikin]

I have studied and taught therapeutic nutrition. The English diet, except during WW2 is/has been high in sugar and refined starch.

Both my husband and I grew up in circumstances where sugar was restricted, and a lot of home garden food was eaten. When we decided to have children, we both went on a very healthy diet for six months, and I got Adelle Davis’ book “Let’s Have Healthy Children”. I followed her recommendations closely, including making my own baby food, but exclusively nursing for the first six months. Now in their thirties, my oldest son (in Special Forces) has never had a cavity. My younger son has only had one cavity in a tooth blocked by a tilted wisdom tooth. As long as we had control we restricted sweets to Holloween, Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. We eliminated white flour and used whole grains including brown rice.

My grandfather had lived to be 98. My father lived to be 90, but for many years constantly sucked on Charms and Lifesavers and lost a lot of his teeth. My mother always had a sweet tooth, and fairly bad teeth when she died at 89. I am 71 and targeting 100 plus. Hope I make it. Will continue to eat mostly whole grains, raw fruits and vegetables, and when I indulge my sweet tooth (I am so glad they have decided dark chocolate is a good thing) rinse my mouth immediately afterwards.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!