The most recent articles we reviewed suggest that the primary cause for the severe tooth wear seen in many of our prehistoric ancestors was an extremely abrasive diet, often with the inclusion of small bones that were chewed and pulverized.
The abrasive nature of their diets may have been compounded by the inclusion of fine gritty material such as sand or stones. The extreme and rapid wear also appears to have indirectly affected the progression of the periodontal breakdown. It may be important to remember that the wear patterns seen on teeth then were much different from the wear patterns seen today. Here are several additional observations made by Kerr1 in examining skeletal remains and dentition from prehistoric and mediaeval Britain:
- – Most of the enamel of the occlusal surfaces was worn away by 40 years of age.
- – Supraeruption of teeth was a prominent feature as a compensatory mechanism for the rapid and severe wear.
The diet, culture and extreme rate of wear were so different from those of modern humans that we feel it may be inappropriate to draw parallels between the etiology of wear patterns seen in Dr. Vance’s practice and those seen on teeth in dried fragments of skulls from our ancestors.
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