Tlos (Seydikemer, Muğla) Kazılarında Ortaya Çıkartılan Orta Bizans Dönemi İskeletlerinde Ağız ve Diş Sağlığı

Oral Health Indicators Among Middle Byzantium Period Human Iskeletons From Tlos (Seydikemer, Muğla)

Özet

Abstract

Oral health is an important indicator of general or systemic health. On the other hand, it is well known that oral health is also affected by social, economic, and ecological factors. Thus oral health status and its indicators may be reflected in the condition of a skeletal population. In this study oral health indicators of human skeletons dated to the Middle Byzantine period and unearthed from the Tlos excavations were investigated and sought to answer two specific questions. The preliminary anthropological observations on this skeletal material has already revealed that the population of Tlos was relatively healthy. The answer to the first question is whether it is coincident with the overall health profile to oral health indicators. The second question relates to the prosperity and economic growth that occurred in Byzantine society from 900 to 1200 A.D. and whether this can be traced on the human skeleton. The permanent teeth, their sockets, and jaw fragments of fifty-two human skeletal remains unearthed from Great Bath of Tlos excavation were examined odontologically and paleopathologically. The skeletal material was dated to the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. according to archaeological findings. The analyses included dental caries, abscess, dental wear, dental calculus, hypoplasia, and number of missing teeth (ante-mortem). Our analysis showed that the uncorrected rate of decay for permanent teeth was 8.9% (72/809) and that more than half of the dental caries (55.6%) occur in inter-proximal areas of teeth. A total of 818 teeth and alveolar regions of these teeth were examined in terms of abscess, and a total of nine abscesses (periapical osteitis) were detected. Thus the proportion of this lesion for the community was calculated as 1.1%. The rate of ante-mortem tooth loss (AMTL) among was 7.3%. When all teeth are taken into consideration, the teeth missing most were the first molars. The rate of AMTL among the anterior teeth is obviously low. In 21.9% of the teeth examined, the formation of dental calculus was observed. And as expected, the accumulation in the anterior teeth was greater than those of posterior ones: 41% of the central incisors and 34% of the lateral incisors had tartar. Tooth wear was determined by the technique developed by Smith (1984) for incisors, canines, and premolars, and the scale generated by Scott (1979) for molars. The average wear rate for all teeth examined was found to be 3.05. Hypoplasic lesions were encountered in 37.6% of the teeth observed. The oral health indicators of the Tlos skeletons were compared with other skeletal series dated to the Byzantine period. The comparisons showed that the residents of Tlos were relatively “healthy” in terms of oral health indicators. For example, tooth decay, AMTL, abscess, and tartar were observed to be lower than the compared populations. These findings are in line with previous observations derived from the cranial and post-cranial skeletons of Tlos. In conclusion, the prosperity and socioeconomic conditions of the Middle Byzantine period also played a role in reaching this “healthy” status.