Dental caries in Japanese remains

DOI Web Site PubMed 1 Citations
  • INOUE Naohiko
    Department of Oral Surgery, University Branch Hospital, The University of Tokyo
  • KUO Ching Hui
    Department of Oral Surgery, University Branch Hospital, The University of Tokyo
  • ITO Gakuji
    Department of Orthodontics, Kagoshima University Dental School
  • KAMEGAI Tetsuya
    Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Iwate Medical College

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 日本人古人骨にみられる齲蝕像
  • ニホンジン コジンコツ ニ ミラレル ウショクゾウ

Search this article

Abstract

The incidence of dental diseases would be expected to rise as frequency of tooth to denture base discrepancy becomes higher, because the discrepancy seems to have pathogenetic influence on malocclusion, dental caries, and other related disorders. By studying incidence and seriousness of dental diseases in each historic age, therefore, it may be possible to obtain pathogenetic information on dental caries, to estimate the degree and extent of reduction of human dentition, and even to discuss evolution and civilization.<BR>From this point of view, we have already reported on dental caries and some other diseases in Japanese remains from the Kamakura era, and conclusively pointed out that the degree of the discrepancy was not so dominant in that era as in the modern age, but it seemed firmly to exsist, with pathogenetic influence on dental caries. In the present paper, incidence and specificity of dental caries, and occlusal and proximal attritions observed in Japanese remains from the later Jomon period are reported. We also discuss the degree and extent of the discrepancy, its pathogenetic role in dental caries, and the food and eating behavior in comparison with those in the Kamakura and modern ages.<BR>The materials used were 89 maxillae and 102 mandibles with permanent or mixed dentition, selected from 327 Japanese skulls mostly from the later Jomon period, stored in the University Museum, The University of Tokyo.<BR>The frequency of dental caries in the Jomon period was almost the same as in the Kamakura era, but much lower than in the modern age. However, its seriousness was much worse than in the Kamakura era, and almost the same as in the modern age, as indicated from the fact that the carious teeth are distributed more frequently in C3 and C4 than in C1 and C2.<BR>The pathogenetic pattern of dental caries in the Jomon period is different from that in the Kamakura era and in the modern age in the following points. 1. The distribution of carious teeth is biased towards the posterior teeth, but not so dominantly as in the Kamakura era. 2. Carious teeth are distributed even in the anterior region. 3. The rate of carious teeth for the third molar does not exceed that for the first molar in both maxilla and mandible. From these facts, the dental caries in the later Jomon period seems to be of environmental pollution type, while it is of the discrepancy type in the Kamakura era and of a combination type in the modern age.

Journal

Citations (1)*help

See more

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top