[Fracture of the mandibular condyle in a skeleton dating from the early middle ages (author's transl)]. / Pathologische Befunde am Kauapparat eines Schädels aus dem 6.Jh. n.Chr., Fundort: Schwechat, Niederösterreich.

The skeleton of a 45 to 50 year-old man dating from the early Middle Ages (discovered at Schwechat in Lower Austria) was examined. In addition to numerous pathological findings with respect to the masticatory apparatus such as caries, severe crown abrasion, pulp necrosis and inflammatory and degenerative alterations in the areas near the teeth, an exceptionally rare findings was observed, namely that of a deformation of the right mandibular condyle. The differential diagnosis on the basis of the radiological findings showed the presence of post-traumatic transformation processes with functional adaptation. Since anatomical specimens of completely healed jawbone fractures are exhibited only rarely in recent case histories, this findings takes on a special significance from the medical as well as from the archeological and anthropological points of view.

[Morphologic and pathologic findings in teeth and jaws from the middle bronze age (Pitten, Lower Austria)]. / Morphologische und pathologische Befunde von Zähnen und Kiefern aus der Mittleren Bronzezeit (Pitten, Niederösterreich).

The detailed examination of the masticating apparatus of 18 skulls from the Middle Bronze Age in Pitten (Lower Austria) revealed numerous pathological findings of the teeth. Most remarkable were frequency and extent of dental abrasions. In addition to it, indications on inflammatory processes in the marginal parodontium were obtained, combined with partly immense formations of concrements on the surfaces of the teeth. The incidence of dental caries was relatively low. Abnormal positions of the teeth and pathological processes concerning the development of dentition as well as the eruption of the wisdom teeth could be observed repeatedly. Conclusions on insufficiences of the oral hygiene in this time follow especially from the concrement findings and from the inflammatory reactions of the marginal parodontium.