Dental Fillings as Old as 13,000 Years Discovered

Imagine a sight of your dentist using a stone tool to fill up your cavities; sounds weird right. Archaeologists have recently discovered a 13,000 year old skeleton with big holes in the front teeth that go deep down to the tooth’s pulp chamber. Scientists have observed that the prehistoric humans came up with a unique set of ways to cure dental problems.

People probably drilled out cavities and relieved inflamed gums using toothpicks at that time. Surprisingly, the process does not end here. Observing the tooth decay from inside, traces of bitumen- a tar like substance were discovered. The substance might have been used as an antiseptic or a filling to prevent the tooth from getting infected, the researchers said. 

The oldest evidence of such a dental filling before this came from a 6,500 year old human skeleton from Slovenia.

Content: www.livescience.com