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At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Coronal and apical lesions, environmental factors: study in a modern and an archeological population.

Apical periodontitis (AP) are frequent findings in contemporary dental practice in association with dental pathology or dental care. They have also been studied from an anthropological background. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of apical and dental lesions in an archeological Middle Ages sample and a modern population, and to evaluate the influence of environmental factors. Both the archaeological sample group and dental practice subjects were from southern France. The study included full mouth surveys of 252 individuals (2,780 teeth) from a historic necropolis and 223 subjects (5,678 teeth) randomly selected from the Gard area. Tooth wear, caries, and AP were accounted for clinically and radiographically according to specific indexes. Significant differences were found between period and age in the archeological sample as regards the main risk factors for AP. Antemortem teeth loss and dental wear had been reduced, whereas caries rates and AP had increased between archaeological and modern population. The AP ratio was associated with the level of dental care in the modern population. Although significant variations could be observed between archaeological periods, the rupture in E3 (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) leads to consider the associated population as a premodern. However, it was found that although cultural and alimentary factors seemed to be the main risk factors in an archeological population, dental care seemed to have a strong influence on AP ratio in modern ones.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Changes in mandibular condyle morphology related to tooth wear in a prehistoric human population.

The exact relationship between tooth wear and changes in the shape of the articulating surface of the mandibular condyles is unknown. It is assumed that to some degree these changes are in response to the loads on the joint generated during chewing. Excavated skeletal remains from sites of primitive human habitation provide an opportunity to study the masticatory system of human beings in their natural context, with the features of form and function expressed to their full potential. Accurate measurements of the condylar head can also be made on such remains. A collection of skulls from an excavation site known as Oakhurst on the South African coast provided material for this study. Occlusal wear was measured using the scale devised by Molnar; approximal wear was assessed by measuring the size of the wear facet between the first and second molars. The width of the condyles were measured directly, and a method was devised to measure changes in the proportion of medial and lateral articulating facets. An increase in the size of the lateral facet of the condyle was found to be associated with increased tooth wear. It is suggested that the direction of condylar remodelling may give an indication of the reaction at the joint to optimal mastication.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Dimensions of the temporal glenoid fossa and tooth wear in prehistoric human skeletons.

Both the mandibular condyle and the glenoid fossa remodel in response to changes in the dentition during life, although the precise relationship between teeth and joint is not clear. This study was undertaken to ascertain changes, if any, occurring in the glenoid fossae in skeletons with much tooth wear. In a collection of skulls from an excavation site on the South African coast, occlusal wear was measured using the scale devised by Molnar. The dimensions of the glenoid fossae were measured using a reflex microscope. Profiles of the glenoid fossa at right angles to a line through its medial and lateral poles provided estimates of the slope of the articular eminence in three places: centrally, and midway between this slope and each of the poles. The mediolateral profile gave an estimate of the height and gabling of the fossa. Central and lateral slope angles showed weak correlation with molar wear, and the medial but not the lateral angel was significantly different from the central. The fossa appears to remodel in response to patterns of forces generated during function, but compared to the condyle, is not as strongly influenced. This may be accounted for if the relative load-bearing areas of the condyle and fossa are considered.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

A probable submandibular gland defect in a prehistoric mandible.

The mandible of a prehistoric male Indian, 35 to 40 years old at death, displays a probable bilateral submandibular gland defect. This defect is described, its incidence in prehistoric and modern populations is reviewed, and a possible genetic etiology is proposed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Cortical defects in the mandibular sulcus.

Examination of 5366 dry mandibles at the Smithsonian Institution revealed three cases of unilateral lingual defects superior to the mandibular foramen. The differential diagnosis includes a neuroma, neurolemmoma, hemangioma, or aneurysm of the inferior alveolar artery. The clinical significance of a vascular neoplasm or aneurysm would be the likelihood of increasing the risk of injecting the anesthetic solution directly into a blood vessel.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Lead in ancient human bones and its relevance to historical developments of social problems with lead.

Concentrations of metabolic lead in buried ancient bones are obscured by replacement of calcium in apatite by excessive amounts of soil moisture Pb. Concentrations of metabolic barium in bones are affected in a similar way. Added soil Pb and Ba, expressed as log(Pb/Ca) versus log(Ba/Ca) among various bones at a given burial site, are positively covariant, with about 5-fold more soil Pb added for each unit of added soil Ba. The typical natural metabolic Ba/Ca ratio in contemporary people can be measured unambiguously because it as unaffected by industrial pollution. It applies to ancient people because it has not changed historically. The intercept of the covariance curve for buried bones of a given ancient population at the known metabolic Ba/Ca ratio indexes the corresponding metabolic Pb/Ca ratio in bones of that population. Lead levels which prevailed in Romans appear to have been similar to those in contemporary people, which are approximately 1000-fold above natural levels in humans determined by this method in ancient Peruvians. This indicates that studies of natural biochemical reactions in cells free of industrial Pb should be made, because most present biochemical knowledge is founded on data obtained from systems polluted with Pb 1000 to 100000-fold above natural levels. The 5000 year history of smelting Pb by humans indicates that a system of education fostered by genetically common lower brain center functions operated on hundreds of successive generations in a context of cultural changes invoked by feedback from developments in engineering technologies to give rise to the difference between present typical and prehistoric natural levels of Pb in humans. Archaeological and anthropological studies of early developments in writing, music and metallurgy by ancient Peruvians and Persian peoples should be combined with PET-scan studies of their descendants to discover if, as preliminary archaeological data suggest, the two ancient populations differed on a genetic basis in higher brain functions, yet are indistinguishable as metallurgical engineers. This would demonstrate that higher centers of the human brain did not exercise guiding control, through hundreds of generations, over those developments of engineering technologies which resulted in the extreme pollution of the earth's biosphere with poisonous Pb.

Barium↗
PubMed1990

The problem of the bifid mandibular condyle.

In a survey of 1,882 prehistoric and historic skulls with 2,077 condyles, 7 double (bifid) mandibular condyles were found. One mandible with bilaterally bifid condyles is presented in detail. Possible causes and consequences of the anomaly are discussed. It is assumed that bifid mandibular condyles with anteroposteriorly situated heads are caused by early childhood fractures, whereas those with mediolaterally situated heads are caused by the persistence of connective tissue septa.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Brain glucose metabolism in chronic marijuana users at baseline and during marijuana intoxication.

Despite the widespread abuse of marijuana, knowledge about its effects in the human brain is limited. Brain glucose metabolism with and without delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (main psychoactive component of marijuana) was evaluated in eight normal subjects and eight chronic marijuana abusers with positron emission tomography. At baseline, marijuana abusers showed lower relative cerebellar metabolism than normal subjects. THC increased relative cerebellar metabolism in all subjects, but only abusers showed increases in orbitofrontal cortex, prefrontal cortex, and basal ganglia. Cerebellar metabolism during THC intoxication was significantly correlated with the subjective sense of intoxication. The decreased cerebellar metabolism in marijuana abusers at baseline could account for the motor deficits previously reported in these subjects. The activation of orbitofrontal cortex and basal ganglia by THC in the abusers but not in the normal subjects could underlie one of the mechanisms leading to the drive and the compulsion to self-administer the drug observed in addicted individuals.

Basal Ganglia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Age- and sex-dependent cancellous bone changes in a 4000y BP population.

We studied cancellous bone loss in a 4000y BP population, using several methods designed to detect age-related changes, in order to investigate the pattern of cancellous bone loss in this ancient population and to compare the results deriving from different methods used on identical specimens. We used 10-mm sections of fourth lumbar vertebral bodies and left femoral necks of 18 individuals of both sexes with estimated ages from 20 to 60 years of a 4000y BP bronze-age population. Stereoscopic photographs were used for three-dimensional analysis and trabecular number (TN) counting. After embedding, the following parameters were measured in different image analysis systems using plane parallel block samples: bone mineral density (BMD) in water by DEXA, and by evaluation of standardized radiographic images; fractional bone volume (BV/TV) in backscattered electron images of the trabecular surface layer and in optical images of trabeculae in a surface-stained layer; and trabecular bone pattern factor (TBPf) in the latter images. There was a high correlation between the results of morphological methods for measuring fractional bone volume. Reasonable correlations were found between the x-ray photon methods and poor correlations between these and the morphological methods. These poor correlations may be due to the diagenetic substitution occurring in archaeological skeletons, which would strongly influence x-ray-based density measurements. However, all the methods demonstrated that the most dramatic loss of quantity and quality in cancellous bone occurred in females between 40 and 60 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Austria↗
PubMed2006

Relationship between anteroposterior cranial vault deformation and mandibular morphology in a pre-Columbian population.

INTRODUCTION: An externally applied force to the cranial vault has been reported to affect the growth of the facial skeleton. However, the effect on the mandible is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between anteroposterior cranial vault deformation and mandibular morphology. METHODS: The study sample included 44 women's crania with intact faces and bases that were excavated from archaeological sites in the Azapa Valley in northern Chile. The crania were divided into anteroposterior deformation (AP) and undeformed (U) groups according to frontal, parietal, and occipital curvatures. The sizes of the cranial vault, middle face, and mandible were measured with calipers. Lateral cephalograms were taken and analyzed according to a conventional method. RESULTS: Cranial base angle, bizygomatic breadth and upper facial height, bicondylar breadth, anterior breadth, and mandibular body length were significantly larger, and the mandibular angle was significantly smaller, in the AP group than in the U group. CONCLUSIONS: The anteroposteriorly shorter and wider cranial deformation caused by externally applied forces in infancy might affect the bone-remodeling process of the mandibular angle, leading to a smaller mandibular angle in adulthood.

Cephalometry↗