<figure class="fr-image-container fr-full"><img srcset="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22644/Jawbone_300-s.webp 480w, https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22644/Jawbone_300-m.webp 660w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 480px, 660px" src="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/22644/Jawbone_300-s.jpg" title="Jawbone_300.jpg" loading="lazy" data-id="22644"><figcaption class="fr-figcaption"><p class="fr-caption"></p></figcaption></figure><p> This Stone Age human jawbone contains a tooth with the oldest filling ever found</p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><p> We're lucky to live in a modern age, an age when, instead of ripping out a painful cavity-ridden tooth, we can have dentists drill away the rotten bit and plug up the hole with a filling. But a new discovery reveals that fillings aren't just modern conveniences: they date back to the Stone Age. Researchers have discovered that a tooth on a 6500-year-old human jawbone has a large cavity covered by a beeswax cap---making that wax the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0044904" title="">oldest dental filling ever discovered</a></p><p>. The well-cared-for jaw was discovered in a cave in Slovenia. <a href="http://archserve.id.ucsb.edu/courses/anth/fagan/anth3/Courseware/Chronology/08_Radiocarbon_Dating.html" title="">Radiocarbon dating</a></p><div data-embedid="dcfb67aa-fdf4-4a19-b4c7-75c497a8de9c" id="insticator-embed-temp"></div><p> indicates that both the jawbone and the wax filling come from the Stone Age. And a close examination of the teeth shows that the left canine has worn enamel, a vertical crack, and a beeswax cap that partially fills the cavity. While the beeswax may have been applied as a coating before the crack opened, or placed after death as part of a funeral ritual, the researchers think it was a filling. It looks like the cavity formed before the wax's application, and it seems odd that a funeral ritual would have targeted a single tooth---no wax was placed on the other teeth, even those with some damage. This particular crack would have been a nasty, painful cavity, and the beeswax probably soothed the pain and insulated the damaged tooth from temperature changes and contact with food. Today's fillings serve a similar purpose---but we drill a cavity before filling it in order to remove the decayed part of the tooth. For that kind of technology, our 6500-year-old friend would have to...<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0405_060405_teeth_drill.html" title="">go back another 2500 years</a></p><p>. </p><p><em>Image courtesy of </em><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0044904" title="">PLoS ONE</a></p>

A Stone Age human jawbone reveals the oldest dental filling ever discovered, showcasing ancient dental care techniques.

Planet Earth

Wax Filling Was the Cutting Edge of Stone-Age Dentistry

Article

News

Sophie Bushwick

Science

This Stone Age human jawbone contains a tooth with the oldest filling ever found We're lucky to live in a modern age, an age when, instead of ripping out a painful cavity-ridden tooth, we can have dentists drill away the rotten bit and plug up the hole with a filling. But a new discovery reveals that fillings aren't just modern conveniences: they date back to the Stone Age. Researchers have discovered that a tooth on a 6500-year-old human jawbone has a large cavity covered by a beeswax cap---making that wax the oldest dental filling ever discovered . The well-cared-for jaw was discovered in a cave in Slovenia. Radiocarbon dating indicates that both the jawbone and the wax filling come from the Stone Age. And a close examination of the teeth shows that the left canine has worn enamel, a vertical crack, and a beeswax cap that partially fills the cavity. While the beeswax may have been applied as a coating before the crack opened, or placed after death as part of a funeral ritual, the researchers think it was a filling. It looks like the cavity formed before the wax's application, and it seems odd that a funeral ritual would have targeted a single tooth---no wax was placed on the other teeth, even those with some damage. This particular crack would have been a nasty, painful cavity, and the beeswax probably soothed the pain and insulated the damaged tooth from temperature changes and contact with food. Today's fillings serve a similar purpose---but we drill a cavity before filling it in order to remove the decayed part of the tooth. For that kind of technology, our 6500-year-old friend would have to...go back another 2500 years . Image courtesy of PLoS ONE

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