Researchers at the Wroclaw Medical University discovered that poor oral hygiene and coarse flour two centuries ago protected the poor from tooth decay, while the rich destroyed their teeth with high-end food. <\/p>\n
Poor oral hygiene from two centuries ago proved to be an invaluable source of knowledge for modern science. A team of researchers from the Wroclaw Medical University, led by Dr. Pawe\u0142 D\u0105browski, made an extraordinary discovery by analyzing the dental calculus of former residents of the Lower Silesian capital. The results of the interdisciplinary research not only reconstructed the diet of Wroclaw residents from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, but also debunked the myth that high social status guaranteed better health. As it turns out, the richer the resident, the worse their teeth fared.<\/p>\n
The extraordinary discovery began on Wroclaw’s Bulwary Ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119ce, where an extensive, multi-layered cemetery was found following the liquidation of the former J\u00f3zef Babi\u0144ski Provincial Hospital. The necropolis once served less affluent residents connected with the parish of St. Barbara and All Saints’ Hospital. Researchers excavated the remains of nearly 200 people who lived from the late 17th to the early 19th century.<\/p>\n
The key to reconstructing their menu turned out to be the lack of meticulous hygiene. In the mineralized structure of the dental calculus, microscopic starch particles and phytoliths\u2014siliceous plant “fingerprints”\u2014survived for hundreds of years. By analyzing their shape and size at the UMW Laboratory of Paleosteology and Paleohistology, specialists precisely determined what ended up on the tables of former Wroclaw residents.<\/p>\n
Dental analysis showed that the basis of the diet of early modern Wroclaw residents was surprisingly varied and relatively light. The samples contained traces of traditional grains: rye, millet, barley, and contemporary varieties of wheat (which differed significantly from today’s and contained no gluten), as well as legumes\u2014peas and beans.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, the dental calculus contained traces of corn, potatoes, and spices from the pepper family. The presence of corn\u2014at that time a novelty arrived from the New World\u2014proves that even average city residents had access to goods from global trade. The diet also lacked no meat (pork, game, and poultry), eggs, and nutritious broths served to children and the weakened. A surprise for researchers was the high popularity of sea herring imported from Szczecin, which regularly hit tables regardless of wallet wealth.<\/p>\n
The most astonishing conclusions from the research concern the impact of wealth status on oral health. With the advent of the industrial era and the development of milling, more expensive, highly processed, white flour appeared on the market. Only wealthier Wroclaw residents could afford it.<\/p>\n
This turned out to be a dental trap for them. Finely ground starch easily adhered to teeth, serving as an ideal breeding ground for caries-causing bacteria. In contrast, poorer residents ate dark bread baked from less refined flour ground on stone millstones. Such bread contained bran and microscopic mineral particles that mechanically rubbed down tooth crowns during chewing, removing plaque and naturally protecting them against cavities.<\/p>\n
Researchers from UMW also examined the microscopic structure of tooth crowns, which grow cyclically like tree rings in a tree trunk. Because once-formed enamel does not undergo subsequent remodeling, it preserves for life any illnesses experienced in childhood, periods of famine, or biological burdens.<\/p>\n
Thanks to this, scientists established that ancient Wroclaw children were breastfed on average until 2 to 2.5 years of age. Importantly, the analysis of tooth structure showed no differences in diet and care based on gender\u2014both boys and girls were surrounded by equally caring attention.<\/p>\n
The research was carried out as part of the interdisciplinary scientific project: “On the Threshold of Industrialization \u2013 Assessment of the Well-being of Early Modern Wroclaw Residents from an Interdisciplinary Perspective.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Researchers at the Wroclaw Medical University discovered that poor oral hygiene and coarse flour two centuries ago protected the poor from tooth decay, while the rich destroyed their teeth with high-end food. A Priceless Source of Knowledge Poor oral hygiene from two centuries ago proved to be an invaluable source of knowledge for modern science. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}