Reproductive life histories influence cariogenesis: Exploring sex-specific variation in dental caries and survivorship in the human past.

OBJECTIVES: Differences in dental caries prevalence between males and females is considered a reflection of diet. However, recent syntheses argue that sex-specific variation in dental caries prevalence also reflects changes in the oral cavity attributable to variation in reproductive life histories. This study explores sex-specific variation in carious lesions using a life history perspective to understand if differences in reproductive ecology influence this process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Survival probability between 860 males and females from the Terry Collection was compared using carious lesion manifestation (absent, crown presence, root/cemento-enamel junction [CEJ] presence) and sex as covariates and age as a time series variable. A four-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) comparing carious lesion type by sex, age, and periodontal disease presence was used to evaluate interaction between these variables. RESULTS: Individuals with carious lesions have greater survivorship than those without lesions. Males and females with crown lesions do not differ in survivorship from individuals without carious lesions. Females with root/CEJ lesions are characterized by the highest survivorship. A significant interaction was found for root/CEJ carious lesions by age, sex, and periodontal disease presence. Root/CEJ lesion formation in older males was not dependent upon periodontal disease presence, though dependence between these variables characterizes postmenopausal females. CONCLUSION: Sex-specific variation in crown lesions is not associated with reproductive life histories and likely reflects diet. By contrast, root/CEJ lesions form through pathways attributable to reproductive life histories, particularly age-induced periodontal disease in females. These results suggest the formation of carious lesions is complex, and in some cases, rooted in reproductive life histories.

Assessing subsistence and its relationship to cultural complexity in the late prehistoric upper Midwest: A new perspective provided by dental health.

OBJECTIVE: Previous researchers have assumed that the Late Prehistoric Oneota were less reliant on maize agriculture than their Middle Mississippian neighbors to the south. This assumption is based on the idea that intensive maize agriculture is related to sociopolitical complexity, and that the climate of the Great Lakes region was less conducive to full-scale agriculture than that of the American Bottom. Here, we assess the diet of the Oneota using dental pathology to test the hypothesis that the Oneota in Eastern Wisconsin were highly reliant on maize agriculture. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To test our hypothesis, skeletal remains representing 187 individuals and 1,102 teeth were examined from nine Oneota sites from the Middle Fox and Koshkonong Localities, as well as the Late Woodland/Middle Mississippian site of Aztalan. Dental caries, antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), and dental abscesses were assessed for each individual in the sample. Dental pathologies in the Oneota groups were compared to each other based on Locality and to the Aztalan population using chi-squared tests. RESULTS: Dental caries rates for the Oneota, based on the tooth count approach, were observed at 16.8% for the Middle Fox Locality, and 49% for the Koshkonong Locality. Comparatively, the Late Woodland/Middle Mississippian population from Aztalan had a tooth count rate of 19.5%. AMTL rates were similar across samples. Dental abscessing was universally low. DISCUSSION: The relatively high rate of dental caries among the Oneota is comparable to Middle Mississippian populations from throughout the Midwest, suggesting similar reliance on maize between the groups.