Dental Caries in Older Adults in Edo Period, Japan

Abstract

In archaeological human skeletal remains, the question of age changes in dental caries has never been examined in Japan. The purpose of this study is to consider the problem of age changes in dental caries in the Edo era Japanese. The materials used in this study consisted of 99 excavated adult human skeletal remains from nine Edo period sites (1603-1868). For comparison, the skeletal remains were assigned to one of two age groups, ca. 20-39 years old (younger adults) and ca. 40 and over (older adults). The authors investigated dental caries of the materials in several ways, including caries lesions.
The results were as follows:
The older adults have a higher rate of dental caries (18.8%) than the younger adults (7.0%); the older adults have also a higher rate of dental caries than the younger adults in most of the tooth calsses. Dental caries of the anterior teeth is vere rare in the younger adults; on the other hand, the older adults have a relatively of high rate. The difference in the rate of dental caries in the anterior teeth between the younger adults and the older ones was clearer than that in the posterior teeth. The rate of antemortem tooth loss of maxillary teeth was higher than that of mandibular teeth. Root caries were frequent in the older adults rather than the younger ones, but occlusal caries were infrequent in the older adults, It is supposed that occlusal caries arose in the fissures and pits in the younger adults, however, occlusal caries were rare due to the advanced dental attrition, and root caries, which are closely associated with alveolar recession, were frequent in the older adults. Because of tooth brushing, the caries in the buccal surface must have reduced in Edo era Japanese in comparison with that of Jomon era people.
We are convinced that further study in this area offers the key to understanding oral health and preventive dentistry both for nowadays and the future.