Ancient Egyptians Used Dental Filling, New Study Suggests

Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin
discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor,
Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor, Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
TT
20

Ancient Egyptians Used Dental Filling, New Study Suggests

Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin
discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor,
Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor, Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.

A recent Greek study that examined an ancient Egyptian mummy from the Ptolemaic age unearthed in "old Panopolis" in the city of Akhmim, southern Egypt, has found that Ancient Egyptians used dental filling.

Archeologists examined the mummy (AIG. 3343) kept at Athens's National Archaeological Museum, and found a porous cavity in the teeth filled with protective materials, which suggests that Ancient Egyptians had used dental filling and were probably the first to use this protective measure.

The study was published in the American Association for Anatomy's the Anatomical Record Journal.

To examine the mummy, archeologists from the Mummy Research Project of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Athens Medical Center, used the computerized tomography (CT) technique, which provides a full description of teeth.

They were surprised to find low density materials (dental filling) between the first and the second molars in the lower jaw.

According to the archeologists, the unique structure and low density of the discovered material is significantly different from the embalming materials found in different parts of the mummy's skull. The dimensions of the filling were larger than the cavity, which suggests the material was deliberately placed there.

They also found that the material's structure was different from the teeth's shape, and that there were other cavities that are not filled with the material. This suggest that the filling was used as a sort of therapy and not as part of the embalming process.

Although the discovery of the filling was the key result of the study, archeologists managed to determine that the mummy's teeth were weak and tattered in several places. The problems ranged from a mild loss of enamel to a complete loss of tissues in the first molar of the upper right jaw.

The archeologists also found evidence on severe gum infection in many teeth, along with a huge bone loss in different spots.

The study didn't look at the reason behind this mummy's death, but the skull's characteristics suggested it belongs to an adult male who died in his twenties. The mummy didn't show significant degenerative changes in the spine and large joints.



Tokyo Hospital Opens City's First 'Baby Hatch'

People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at cherry blossoms as the blossom viewing season begins in full in central Tokyo on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at cherry blossoms as the blossom viewing season begins in full in central Tokyo on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
TT
20

Tokyo Hospital Opens City's First 'Baby Hatch'

People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at cherry blossoms as the blossom viewing season begins in full in central Tokyo on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at cherry blossoms as the blossom viewing season begins in full in central Tokyo on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

A Tokyo hospital on Monday became the Japanese capital's first medical institution to offer a system allowing the safe, anonymous drop-off of infants by parents unable to raise them.

Used for centuries globally, so-called baby boxes or baby hatches are meant to prevent child abandonment or abuse.

But they have been criticized for violating a child's right to know their parents, and are also sometimes described by anti-abortion activists as a solution for desperate mothers.

Newborns within four weeks of age can now be placed in a basket in a quiet room with a discreet entrance at a hospital in Tokyo run by the Christian foundation Sanikukai, AFP reported.

The scheme, open 24 hours a day, is meant to be an "emergency, last-resort measure" to save babies' lives, Hitoshi Kato, head of Sanikukai Hospital, told a news conference.

There are still "mothers and babies with nowhere to go", the hospital said in a statement, citing the "abandonment of infants in baggage lockers, parks or beaches".

Sanikukai is only Japan's second medical institution to open a baby hatch, after the Catholic-run Jikei hospital in southwestern Japan's Kumamoto region opened one in 2007.

At Sanikukai in Tokyo, when a baby is put in the basket, a motion sensor immediately alerts hospital staffers to the drop-off, sending them rushing downstairs to tend to the baby, project leader Hiroshi Oe told AFP.

After confirming the baby's safety, the hospital will work with authorities to help decide the "best possible" next step, including foster care or a children's home.

If the person leaving the baby is seen lingering around the hospital, efforts will be made to engage them, Oe said.