Paleolithic Toothache: Oldest Dentistry Revealed in 14,000-Year-Old Tooth of Young Man

Researchers were undoubtedly smiling over a 14,000-years-old tooth that revealed the oldest known dentistry techniques, dating back to the Late Upper Paleolithic (between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago). The infected tooth was found to have been partially cleaned with flint tools, marking an important development in the history of prehistoric dental surgery treatments.

An international team of researchers, headed by Stefano Benazzi, paleoanthropologist at the University of Bologna, examined the remarkable find, which represented the oldest archaeological example of dental surgery on an identifiable condition.

Benazzi told DiscoveryNews, “It predates any undisputed evidence of dental and cranial surgery, currently represented by dental drillings and cranial trephinations dating back to the Mesolithic-Neolithic period, about 9,000-7,000 years ago.”

The Paleolithic patient’s well-preserved skeleton was found in northern Italy in 1988, and it revealed he was a young man when he died, in his mid-twenties. The skeletal remains were between 13,820 and 14,160 years old. 

In 2015, the skeleton was reexamined and the infected tooth, with evidence of dental treatment, was found. Until that time, the tooth had been described as having a simple “carious lesion” or decayed area. But further investigation revealed telltale scratches, indicating early identification and treatment of a cavity.