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Diet and Dental Caries in Post-Medieval London

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Abstract

This paper explores the dentition of individuals excavated from two post-medieval London cemeteries. Individuals from Chelsea Old Church, a middle-class group, and St. Bride’s lower churchyard, a working-class group, were selected and studied. The relative dental status of each group was explored by determining the prevalence of individuals and teeth affected by dental caries. The overall dental status of both class groups was found to be poor; diet was the most likely causative factor. Access to cariogenic foods such as sugar and refined flour likely affected individuals’ dental status regardless of their social class.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jelena Bekvalac and Dr. Rebecca Redfern of the Museum of London Centre for Human Bioarchaeology for allowing access to the skeletal remains. They are grateful to Phil Howard, Durham University, for his aid with statistics. Many thanks to the two anonymous reviewers, whose insights greatly improved this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Madeleine Mant

  2. Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    Charlotte Roberts

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Mant, M., Roberts, C. Diet and Dental Caries in Post-Medieval London. Int J Histor Archaeol 19, 188–207 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-014-0286-x

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