Prehistoric tooth reveals painful dentistry

Much has changed since the paleolithic era — the invention of agriculture, the advent of organised religion, the rise and fall of civilisations — but one fact hasn’t: people got cavities then, as now.

And before the advent of local anaesthetic, the process of treating them sounds fairly miserable.

In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers examine the earliest known evidence that humans treated dental caries, better known (and deplored) as cavities.

A team of mostly Italian and German researchers examining a 14,000-year-old molar found strange striations and chipping on the ancient enamel of a partially rotten tooth. When they tested the marks, they realised they must have been made by pointed stone tools that were used to probe and scrape away at the decayed area. The fact the chipped area was worn out confirmed the scratches were made while the tooth’s owner was still alive — and, given the lack of local anesthetic, probably painfully aware.

The molar’s owner, a 25-year-old male skeleton, was uncovered from a rock shelter in northern Italy in 1988. Scientists have studied the ancient specimen for decades without realising the holes in the man’s lower right third molar might be more than just a bad cavity.

The finding predates the nextoldest evidence of dentistry by as much as 5000 years, according to lead author Stefano Benazzi. A chip shop owner has said she has no intention of taking down a banner hailing it as the home of the deepfried Mars bar after she was asked to do so by the local council.

The Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire in Scotland, advertises itself as the “birthplace of the world-famous deep-fried Mars bar” with a large sign on the side of the shop.

Owners say it attracts thousands of tourists from around the world every year but the local council wants the banner to come down as part of a plan to “improve the look” of Stonehaven.

However, the council appears to have backtracked after the story sparked headlines.

The Carron owner, Lorraine Watson, said the official who sent the letter about the banner had phoned her to discuss the matter.

The deep-fried Mars bar has become synonymous with the negative stereotype of the unhealthy Scottish diet.