Neolithic beeswax dental filling may be oldest found

Researchers at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy have discovered what may be the oldest example of therapeutic palliative dentistry in the 6500-year-old canine of a young man. It’s a beeswax filling that covers sensitive dentin exposed by wear and a vertical crack, and it’s so subtle that it took scientists more than a hundred years to notice it. The wear is profound enough that it was probably not incurred in regular chewing of food but from tougher activities the Neolithic put their teeth to, like making tools or softening leather.

via The History Blog » Blog Archive » Neolithic beeswax dental filling may be oldest found.