DT News - UK - British gingivae were healthier under Roman rule

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 28 October 2014

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LONDON, UK: Much of the legacy of the Romans is still evident in Britain today. New evidence from a study by King’s College London researchers on the skulls of ancient inhabitants of the island has given reason to believe that this might not have been the case for periodontal health.

While most of the skulls examined bear evidence of infections, dental decay or extensive tooth wear, typical for a coarse-grain and cereal-rich diet, periodontal disease was largely absent. Only 5 per cent showed signs of the disease, despite the widespread lack of dental care and routine oral hygiene in Roman Britain.

According to the researchers, the findings shed more light on the negative effects of modern lifestyle habits on oral health. They also support the importance of risk factors in determining susceptibility to periodontal disease in modern society, they said.

Currently, 15 to 30 per cent of Britons are estimated to suffer from some form of periodontal disease. The most severe kind, believed to be associated with systemic conditions, such as diabetes, and factors like smoking, affects one in 15 people in the UK, according to National Health Service figures.

The researchers suggested that the prevalence of periodontal disease was low among the Roman Britons investigated in the study because the population did not smoke extensively. Tobacco was only introduced in Britain in the sixteenth century when English traders first began to import the plant from the new colonies. In recent years, the habit has been on the decline owing to a ban on smoking in public places, among other things, which could indicate a future improvement in periodontal health, according to the researchers.

“As smoking declines in the population, we should see a decline in the prevalence of the disease,” co-author Prof. Theya Molleson from the Natural History Museum in London said.

For the study, published in the British Dental Journal, the researchers examined over 300 skulls excavated from a burial ground in Poundbury in Dorset. The remains, which are part of the museum’s palaeontological collection, are of people of different ages and from different social backgrounds.

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