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Does Size Matter? An osteological analysis of the relation between tooth size and dental caries from S:t Clemens cemetery in Lund.

Törnberg, Felicia LU (2019) ARKM23 20191
Historical Osteology
Abstract (Swedish)
The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relation between tooth size and dental caries in a medieval material from S:t Clemens cemetery in Lund. Dental caries is one of the most common infectious disease in humankind, both in prehistoric and modern populations. Evidence of caries gives the opportunity to study health and diet in populations. During evolution of humankind, there are evidence of a reduction in tooth size and there are different theories about why the teeth got smaller. In this thesis I want to see if there is a relation between the tooth size and caries. The theoretical framework is based on evolutionary theory and focal infection theory. A selection was made among the teeth, and molar teeth are only included, because... (More)
The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relation between tooth size and dental caries in a medieval material from S:t Clemens cemetery in Lund. Dental caries is one of the most common infectious disease in humankind, both in prehistoric and modern populations. Evidence of caries gives the opportunity to study health and diet in populations. During evolution of humankind, there are evidence of a reduction in tooth size and there are different theories about why the teeth got smaller. In this thesis I want to see if there is a relation between the tooth size and caries. The theoretical framework is based on evolutionary theory and focal infection theory. A selection was made among the teeth, and molar teeth are only included, because they are often more afflicted with caries. The result from this analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference in M1sup (upper), M1inf (lower), M2inf and M3sup, which means that there was a relation between the measurements, mesial-distal and buccal-lingual, and dental caries. There is a difference in size between females and males, but it is the larger teeth that are afflicted with caries. This means that even if the teeth have reduced in size over time, it is still the larger teeth that are afflicted with caries. I think that there is a relation between the revolution of agriculture and the evolution of tools, as pottery, that gave humankind the opportunity to softener the food. The diet of carbohydrates became sticky and could easily get stuck in the morphology of the teeth, which give caries a chance to evolve in the morphology of fissures and pits in the occlusal surface. (Less)
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author
Törnberg, Felicia LU
supervisor
organization
course
ARKM23 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Human osteology, Dental Caries, Tooth Size, Focal Infection Theory, Evolutionary Theory, S:t Clemens, Medieval Lund.  
language
English
id
8997658
date added to LUP
2021-10-01 12:27:09
date last changed
2021-10-01 12:27:09
@misc{8997658,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relation between tooth size and dental caries in a medieval material from S:t Clemens cemetery in Lund. Dental caries is one of the most common infectious disease in humankind, both in prehistoric and modern populations. Evidence of caries gives the opportunity to study health and diet in populations. During evolution of humankind, there are evidence of a reduction in tooth size and there are different theories about why the teeth got smaller. In this thesis I want to see if there is a relation between the tooth size and caries. The theoretical framework is based on evolutionary theory and focal infection theory. A selection was made among the teeth, and molar teeth are only included, because they are often more afflicted with caries. The result from this analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference in M1sup (upper), M1inf (lower), M2inf and M3sup, which means that there was a relation between the measurements, mesial-distal and buccal-lingual, and dental caries. There is a difference in size between females and males, but it is the larger teeth that are afflicted with caries. This means that even if the teeth have reduced in size over time, it is still the larger teeth that are afflicted with caries. I think that there is a relation between the revolution of agriculture and the evolution of tools, as pottery, that gave humankind the opportunity to softener the food. The diet of carbohydrates became sticky and could easily get stuck in the morphology of the teeth, which give caries a chance to evolve in the morphology of fissures and pits in the occlusal surface.}},
  author       = {{Törnberg, Felicia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Does Size Matter? An osteological analysis of the relation between tooth size and dental caries from S:t Clemens cemetery in Lund.}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}